From Kalie Gold: Should we forget 9/11?

My name is Kalie, I am a senior at Brown University, concentrating in International Relations; I am originally from Washington, DC. I was in DC on 9/11, and still live there. I am taking this class to explore a different way of looking at history—through theoretical frameworks rather than just facts.

My first thought is, what is the role of memory? In this case, we should be careful to call it “historical memory.” The complex context surrounding 9/11 pushes us to not just see it as a day of tragedy, but to place it in perspective. Analyzing “tragedy” and truth in the same moment, however, is not an easy task.

What an idealistic view. Historical memory is always caught up in complex forces that do not serve a greater good. Historical memory is most often a tool: to define group identity for political purposes, to incite people to action, and to justify means and ends. We have seen 9/11 become this sort of tool. 9/11 left the US with a national feeling of unjust victimization. The idea and feeling of victimization has justified retaliation, and the US took our own violence abroad to Afganistan and Iraq. To forget how the process worked, where it began, and the results, would be wrong. Twenty years from now, the world needs to be able to both learn from our (and others’) mistakes, and appreciate why and from where they came.

Does remembering September 11th do us harm? Arguably it already has—regrets about Afganistan, Iraq, and other issues are caught up in the memory of 9/11. Forgetting what happened, and what has happened since, would be a disservice to history.

Posted by Matrix Admin on September 18, 2007 12:04 PM | Permalink

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