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The vast majority of Americans still view the events of September 11, 2001 as the most important news event of the past 50 years, even beating the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Harris exclusive poll conducted for Fast business.
Of those who say they are familiar with 9/11, 87% agree that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa., have been the # 1 news event for the past half century. The sentiment transcends gender and age differences and includes people who are yet to be born and those too young to remember the events of that freezing Tuesday morning. That’s the answer from 83% of men, 90% of women and 85% of respondents aged 18 to 34, which covers part of Gen Z.
As the United States commemorates the 20th anniversary of September 11, the influence of that day is still evident – from increased security still palpable Islamophobia, radio advertisements about the deadline for the 9/11 victims fund, and reports on Guantanamo Bay detainees.
For people who have not experienced the assassination of President John Kennedy, a key marker for baby boomers, it was a defining moment for the generation. The fact that the 9/11 attacks took place on American soil – a land that remained untouched during both world wars and has not seen such fighting since the Civil War – made it all the more so more dramatic.
“Deliberate cruelty is why. It creates a strong emotional bond. The threat is very direct, ”says Dr. Melanie Greenberg, San Diego-based clinical psychologist and author of The anti-stress brain. “With terrorism, it’s having an enemy. It’s something our minds hold on to. He is someone who wants to destroy us. Before September 11, we felt quite safe in the United States. Terrorism was rather minor. We felt invulnerable.
The immediate shock of the event was recorded in a way that the current COVID-19 pandemic – a far more deadly crisis – is not. The pain of September 11 unleashed a new kind of horror – sudden, sharp and sharp – while the virus that is wreaking havoc around the planet is rather a slow combustion. The beginning was a deep rapier, but it turned into a long-term severity that constantly bludgeons us.
“Terrorism, you don’t know where it is. There is no real estate, ”says Greenberg, who remembers breastfeeding her daughter during 9/11 and knows people who were supposed to be on flights or at the World Trade Center, but who weren’t at the World Trade Center. the last minute. “[With] COVID, you can be safe if you are in your home. There is a little more control over your exposure. Moreover, it is not as deliberate. It’s a disease. It is not personal. It is not someone who is targeting you. It is not tribal.
The images of September 11 were captured mainly by professionals. Some — the ash-covered people fleeing the World Trade Center, the smoking pentagon, the second plane hitting the second tower, Shanksville Crater, and the heartbreaking image of “Falling Man” are etched in the minds of people who were not yet alive when it happened.
Gabe Zoda, a junior from Hofstra University was born two days later September 11th. He calls the day “super important” and cites the moving images of the tragedy, the enormous loss of life and the unity and resilience Americans have shown in the aftermath as the main reasons why it resonates with him. . And as a resident of Queens, New York, Zoda attended high school with kids whose parents were New York City firefighters and police.
“Even though I wasn’t alive, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean anything. It didn’t just affect New York, but the whole world. . . and the legacy continues today in 2021, ”he said. “Just being able to see all the videos from that day and being able to take them apart, it always felt a little more real to me. Even though I saw the Challenger [explosion] and the assassination of John F. Kennedy and all that, the scale of the stuff and the visuals makes it more real. Like dang, it’s huge.
The weighted Fast business-The Harris poll of 1,053 American adults was conducted between August 20 and 24. In the poll, 92% of those polled said they were aware of the events of September 11, including details such as the perpetrators of the attacks, the US response, and the death toll.
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