We Remember.

"Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September day?"  Alan Jackson's lyrics hit me every year.  It is the day that everything stops. Politics Stop. Crazy TV reports stop. All attention turns to those who were directly impacted by the attack on our nation.

We know that our nation was directly hit; however several nations around the world were impacted as their citizens were inside the World Trade Center on that September day. In all almost three thousand people lost their lives, because they decided to go to work, put their children into day care, or do their jobs as first responders.

In the years since, some have attempted to put the events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 out of their minds.  To, in essence, move on from that day. A recent USA Today survey stated that 70% of Americans are trying to do just that. Michael Smerconish in his op-ed on this day recounted several times that the "world stopped turning" in the last 71 years including: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Columbine High School Massacre and the Oklahoma City Bombing. He illustrates how quickly people have forgotten about these nation changing events.

We owe it to our nation and ourselves not to forget what happened on those days and this one. The actions of a few have changed the course of history for many. Failure to remember causes the pain to float back upon the shoulders of those who lost loved ones. We should remember how we truly became the embodiment of our nation's motto: Out of Many, One.

However, we should forget the great hatred that brewed towards people of Arab and Muslim descent. The way it became an "us" against "them", even though "them" included American citizens who also lost loved ones in the attack. We should forget the increase in racial profiling, the tolerance of persons who act out towards "others", and the lack of civility in our discourse towards people we believe don't fit our idea of Americana.

Maybe it was because I was too ignorant about the landscape of New York City and fearful for my cousin's life who lived in Brooklyn.  Or maybe it is because I sat in my room in Sojourner Truth Hall on South Carolina State University's campus and watched as skyscrapers crumbled to the ground. Or maybe it is the story of one of my closest friends on how her mother's life was spared because she was late to work. Or maybe it was because one of my other close friends knew someone who wasn't as fortunate. Or the ensuing war that took the life of my best friend's brother. Or the fact that my cousin was in the military.

There are countless reasons why I will never forget where I was when the world stopped turning that September Day.