Where were you on 9/11? Among Americans old enough to remember, it’s a popular icebreaker. I was in high school shop class when rumors started spreading that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. I shrugged it off, assuming it was a small prop plane. Then rumors started circulating that the Twin Towers had actually fallen. I distinctly remember trying to grapple with the concept of the Towers actually collapsing. How was that possible? It was like trying to imagine Mount Everest toppling over; it simply didn’t make sense.
Thinking through these memories, talking about 9/11, and yes, acknowledging the intricate geopolitics that all led to the event helps me sort out my complicated thoughts on the day. Undoubtedly, 9/11 remains one of the most important milestones in our history, creating a domino effect that would pull America into costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These wars would ultimately costs trillions of dollars and, more importantly, hundreds of thousands of lives. Such a complicated event should, of course, be the subject of both remembrance and analysis.
Now, Ripon College in Wisconsin is finding itself in hot water for allegedly banning a 9/11 memorial. The Young America’s Foundation (YAF) claims that college administrators have ruled out their efforts to host a 9/11 memorial on campus for fear of offending Muslims, with administrators apparently stating that “students from a Muslim background would feel singled out and/or harassed.”
According to the conservative Young America’s Foundation, administrators argued: “…because radical Islamist terrorism ‘represents a small percentage of the terrorist attacks that happened to this country, and they don’t represent the full gamut, and they show a very small picture of a specific religion or nationality instead of the larger viewpoint.’”
However, the school fired back on Facebook: “There has been much misinformation posted related to a recent discussion between Ripon College officials and student members of the Ripon College Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter regarding a 9/11 poster and memorial. Ripon College encourages an environment for free speech and civil dialogue on our campus. The YAF posters are not, and have never been, banned. After receiving complaints from our students about the YAF Islamic extremism posters last year, College officials gave the Ripon College YAF student representatives suggestions as to how to have a discussion about 9/11 this year with our entire campus and community. The annual 9/11 flag memorial is a great example of how YAF students engage the entire community.”
According to the College, the disagreement stems from the content of a poster, not efforts to hold a memorial. Apparently, even those posters are not banned. The poster shows several graphic images of Islamic terrorist events, such as Iranians taking American diplomats hostage in 1979. Given that Iran adheres to Shia Islam rather than Sunni-Islam, it’s hard to see how the two events are tied together. Most radical terrorist groups are Sunni (although, they represent only a tiny portion of Sunni Muslims) and harbor deep hatred for Iran and Shia Muslims.
It should also be noted that Islamic terrorism represents only a small portion of terrorist-linked activity in the United States. Further, the vast majority of American Muslims are moderate, peaceful people who want to prosper the same as their neighbors. Many Muslims died on 9/11 and many would later side with the United States in its War on Terror.
If administrators want to highlight larger terrorism trends, I have no problem with it. If administrators want to highlight the fact that extremists make up only a tiny portion of Muslims, again, I have no problem with it. The administrators are right in their Facebook post: encouraging dialogue and discussion is the way to go, especially in college.
9/11 is certainly a complicated issue. As the anniversary approaches, we’d all be wise to take a moment to reflect upon what and why it happened.
