Community moving past 9/11 tragedy

Today is the eighth anniversary of Sept. 11, yet the commemorative events and public reflection of the past eight years are largely absent.

On the first anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, there was a campus vigil attended by thousands of students, multiple memorial ceremonies and commemorative structures and artwork.

In 2006, five years after the tragedy, there was a memorial service held on campus, a silent 5K run and thousands of small American flags placed on the lower quad.

This year, the flags are in place and the silent 5K happened at 6:30 a.m., but the University will otherwise carry on with its normal Friday routine.

How does society move on from a national tragedy of such magnitude?

The increasingly short American memory, declining media coverage due to a lack of audience interest and the rapid cycle of current events turnover all cause national tragedies to fade from the public consciousness, said Michael Welsh, a history professor at University of Northern Colorado.

“Just because we have more access to information and connections, we don’t (necessarily) have a longer memory,” Welsh said.

Sept. 11 has become less politically relevant, contributing to the tragedy’s drift into the national background.

“How much of 9/11’s memory is a function of our real desire to keep it alive and how much was our leaders’ desires to keep the ideas alive?” Welsh asked.

Sept. 11 is viscerally tied to former President George W. Bush. It’s hard to associate it with the current administration, he said.

“We’re a nation that always looks to the future. It’s hard to make people turn back, especially when it’s troubling.”

While society has begun to detach from the trauma of Sept. 11, the emotional impact it had makes it hard to forget even today, said Donald Shaw, a journalism professor at UNC.

“Any major event like that, people are struck by it. I can remember everything I was doing when JFK was killed and when the Challenger went down. It’s the same with 9/11. Who I was with, where I was walking, how I learned about it. It was a blow,” Shaw said.

Its far-reaching impact is also a factor in its continued presence in the American narrative, he said.

“People from this area died in the World Trade Centers. I ask kids in my class if they knew anyone who died, and usually it’s a connection or two off,” Shaw said.

But Shaw said society is right to take a few steps back .

“Humanity must move on. We have to pick and choose commemorations and celebrations or all our days would be consumed by them,” he said.

“Even if the town doesn’t officially recognize an event, citizens individually still do. It doesn’t mean the event isn’t important.”


Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.