Sept 11th Remembered

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We have heard many times and in many ways that the world has changed greatly since 11 September of last year. I hope this is true.

For it was something in that old world that led a group of zealots to feel justified in taking the lives of many hundreds of innocent people. It was also in that world where many people likely knew of their plans – and did nothing to stop them. How different a world it would be today if one man, or two, had stood up during the planning of this atrocity and said – “Look, no matter what you say, this is wrong.”

I will never understand such a mind – a mind that can rationalize cruelty to others. I hope I never understand. But I do know that they felt perfectly justified in their actions. And I do know that they were wrong. Rarely are we presented with such a clear, black-and-white wrongness. The world is usually much more gray.

The world I live in rarely presents such clear choices. It is a complicated world, a world ready to excuse behavior your Grandmother would never have tolerated. It is a world where no Enron executive stood up in a meeting and said – “Look, no matter what you say, this is wrong.” It would never have come up. People are merely “units of production.” Customers are simply a “revenue stream.” Nothing personal, this is “just business.”

I was in a meeting once, just a group of middle-aged white guys. These were nice guys, normal folk in a normal meeting. Mostly these were people I liked. And at some point during this meeting the subject of the Martin Luther King holiday came up and one of the fellows made some tasteless, inappropriate comment. It was not blatantly racist – but that was its intent. A couple people chuckled quietly, but most of us were mildly embarrassed.

Then a man whom I did not know well, spoke with a deep southern accent.

“I once met Dr. King,” he said quietly and the room got very silent. “I happen to believe he is one of the greatest men this country ever produced. It was quite an honor to meet him. I respect what he stood for and I resent the hell out of what you just said.” And with that, he was silent – as were the rest of us.

I don’t remember this guy’s name, but I will always remember what he did. It was courageous – and it made me feel ashamed. Remaining silent in the face of cruelty does not make you innocent.

My fear is that the world has not changed much since September 11th. Putting a flag on your car does not make you a patriot. Wearing a NYPD baseball cap does not make you a hero. People have an enormous capacity to justify their own actions. Perhaps this is the real lesson of September 11th. It is a reminder that we each have to sometimes stand up to the tiny terrorists in our lives and say - “Look, no matter what you say, this is wrong.”

This is not the safe thing to do, nor will you be rewarded for doing it. But it is what your Grandmother would have done – when the world was a very different place.

written by Jay Warmke - September, 2002

September 11th Remembered