9/11/2001: Today's students have their own memories

This is an Associated Press photo from Sept. 11, 2001, showing the attack on the Twin Towers.

‘Hits close to home’ – Claflin students remember 9/11 attacks

By TAHJE PRIOLEAU

Most students at Claflin University did not live through the 2001 terrorist attacks, but Sept. 11 is a day they know through family, history books and social media.

Students were interviewed about 9/11 ahead of the 24^th anniversary of nearly 3,000 people being killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

“I heard stories about the day but never realized how bad it was until I actually watched old archive footage from when the planes actually hit the Twin Towers,”  freshman Jamal Michaels said.

Michaels said while he and his class were not born when the two commercial airliners hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, he empathizes with the situation. And it affected his parents, who relocated to South Carolina from New York shortly after 9/11.

“My mom and dad told me that they moved here from The Bronx because of it. They felt it was unsafe to continue to raise my two older brothers there at the time,” Michaels said.

“Despite New York being a very big city, it hit close to home for everyone that lived there regardless of if you have lived in Brooklyn, Queens, Albany or Rochester.”

Graduating senior Shamika Phillips said the tragic day eventually turned into triumph.

“Despite the terrible attacks, lawmakers and government officials did change the narrative to ensure something like that will never happen again,” Phillips said.

“Thank goodness for the creation of TSA, and other agencies like Homeland Security,” she said. “I wish those things were already here when they happened so the people that were working that day could have made it back home to their families.”

The great damage of 9/11

By SAMARIAH WILSON

Sept. 11, 2001, will forever be remembered in U.S history, with the terrorist attacks that took place on the date changing the nation forever.

Lauren Whetstone and Lauren Smalls, Claflin sophomores, were interviewed about the day 24 years ago when terrorists killed about 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Whetstone, a sophomore majoring in middle-level education, said she knows 9/11 involved a terrorist attack that destroyed the Twin Towers in New York. Although she was not born until after 9/11, she remembers being told by her parents about the chaos that followed.

Her mother, an educator, recalled teachers running through the buildings advising everyone to turn on their radios, she said. “My dad said that it was nobody on the streets and he works for UPS.”

Lauren Smalls, a sophomore majoring in sports management, also acknowledged awareness of how planes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.  “I was told that it was one of the scariest days in U.S history where a lot of lives were lost.”

The country was in shock. It was an eye-opener that more security was needed, Smalls said. “The nation was taught that life could change instantly and that they couldn’t take peace for granted.”

Whetstone cited the emphasis on security amid threats today to schools, workplaces, stores and more. “It could be something such as a school shooting that could be a terror threat, and that has to change.”

She believes one solution is enforcement of better gun laws.

Smalls also said terror threats are still around today.

“They’re still around but they’ve shifted,” Smalls said, noting threats have expanded to cyberthreats and random acts of violence internationally.

The country changed

By REBEKAH BISHOP

Students today say the country changed after Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people.

Shayla Kelly and Miyah Reed shared what they know about 9/11, what they were told growing up and how they view today’s terror threats. Kelly, 22, is a psychology student at The Citadel in Charleston who was born in 2003. Reed, 25, recently earned her master’s degree in public health from Emory University and was born in 1999.

Neither remembers the attacks firsthand. Both said they learned about 9/11 through family stories and classroom discussions.

“I wasn’t alive for it, but I’ve always been told it changed the way America thinks about safety,” Kelly said.

They recalled their mothers’ experiences during the attack.

“My mom told me she sat in front of the TV for hours,” Reed said.

“She said the images of people running through the streets of New York are stuck in her mind” Kelly said. “My teachers explained that the airport security and rules changed after that day, and I think about how fear affects people’s daily lives.”

“For me, the lesson is about not taking safety for granted. Fear can shape laws, policies and even personal habits,” Kelly said.

Kelly said threats now feel different for her generation.

“Honestly, I don’t worry about it, especially with everything going on in the world today. It feels like threats aren’t just about plans anymore, it’s everything,” she said.

Reed agreed but added a different perspective.

“For people my age, life has always included things like TSA checks, AMBER alerts and constant bad news about something in the world. It’s considered normal,” Reed said.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, when the highjacked planes struck the World Trade Center buildings in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and a field in Pennsylvania.

More security, less prejudice

By MYAH BURT

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were a chance for the U.S. to come together and move forward, yet it feels as if the country has moved backward, a Claflin student said.

Jadon Edwards and other Claflin students were interviewed on Sunday, Sept. 28, two weeks before the anniversary of the attacks that took place in New York, Virginia and Washington 24 years ago.

The attacks were preplanned by the Al-Qaeda, a Muslim extremist group. Four planes were hijacked, and the destruction resulted in about 2,969 deaths.

“The attacks have made me feel like we have lackluster security in the U.S.,” Edwards said. “I remember one of the pilots from a hijacked plane saying that during his training, he was told he didn’t need to know how to land, and that shocked me.”

The issue of security repeatedly came up from students, who appear to believe there is not enough emphasis today on training and safety measures in the United States. They say the country has moved backward.

While most gave credit for changes, including increased airport protection, they said there is still much work to do.

Students said prejudice following the attacks is unacceptable. Hate toward Muslim communities needs to stop, or real change may never occur.

“I learned from 9/11 that people will always find a way to spread hate to one another” Edwards said. “People use events such as this as fuel, and the perspective of what a terrorist is has changed due to stereotypes.”

Hunter Coker-Riley, a junior accounting major, was among students further speaking on the effects of such malice.

“Terrorist attacks are still possible, but it’s not the focus because it’s not always terrorists” Coker-Riley said. “The U.S. still experiences school shootings, police brutality and hate crimes.”

Students said the Sept. 11 attacks have made them reflect on the social climate of the United States. Citizens of all races and backgrounds will have to come together to effectively fight terrorism.

“It’s going to take all of us. We have to put our pride and biases aside to make way for the change that is to come,” another Claflin student said.

Echoes of 9/11

By KEN WHITE III

It’s been 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but for many students today, the story of that morning is one they’ve had to piece together through classroom lessons, documentaries, family conversations — and sometimes, their own personal research.

A majority of today’s students were not born when the deadliest terrorist attacks occurred in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people. Claflin students were interviewed in advance of the anniversary about their opinions and knowledge about 9/11.

“I know that 9/11 is remembered as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in U.S. history,” said Jauron Pruitt, who was born a year after the tragedy.

“Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives, and thousands more were injured, as ordinary Americans went about their daily routines. The attack deeply changed how people viewed their safety, reminding the nation that life can shift in an instant without warning,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt’s understanding of the day is influenced by both formal education and his own curiosity. He recalled being taught the timeline in detail, including the first plane crashing into New York’s World Trade Center North Tower at 8:46 a.m., the second hitting the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., and subsequent attacks on the Pentagon and the crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back.

Pruitt said the attacks point to the nation’s vulnerability.

“It made me realize how easily normal, everyday places — airports, office buildings or government centers — can become targets,” he said. “It highlighted the importance of security and awareness in protecting people from future attacks.”

For Tierra Albert, 9/11 wasn’t something she learned much about during her K-12 years. It was only though an elective college course on terrorism that she began to explore the event in depth — and how it has influenced the way many Americans view certain groups.

“I will say that it has impacted a lot of the way Muslims and Arabic people are viewed or the stereotypes people feed into,” she said. “In school, we remembered 9/11, but we never really went into the history or what really happened.”

Albert said the college course provided her with a unique perspective on terrorism and how it is more than foreign threats.

“Not saying that terrorism is OK, but a lot of American history and violence I see, such as school shootings, I view that as terrorism more than I view foreigners as a threat as a whole.”

9/11 impacts class of 2028

 By KOREY MCCASKILL

“Every year on Sept. 11, she still gets a little shaken up,” Claflin student Ashari Barnes said about her grandmother’s reaction to the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Her grandmother was raised in New York but lived in South Carolina then. It was “a very sensitive and emotional time for her,” Barnes said, citing security changes at airports as an impact from the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania 24 years ago.

“I do think that during that time, the security levels and technology were not as advanced as now. Now you can’t even go through TSA with so much as change in your pocket,” she said.

“Because it was a major terrorist act and because it did hit the Twin Towers and so many people’s lives were lost that day, people still don’t have closure from it,” Barnes said. “People are still going to bring it back up every chance they get because they want to know the real reason. How did it get planned? How did this happen?”

While Barnes talked about her 9/11 thoughts and experience from her grandmother’s point of view, another student cited personal views.

“It’s a topic we talk about, but it’s not really a topic we really get into,” Zy’Keira Bethea said, who learned about 9/11 in grade school.

A 19-year-old Claflin student, Bethea talked about not getting into what’s been going on in the world because of negative news. “I’m just trying to focus on the future and not the past.” 

Safety is not guaranteed

By LAMIYAH MOORE

 Sept. 11, 2001, is history, not memory, for most of today’s college students.

Claflin University juniors Kennedy Williams and Hailee Goldwire discussed how they see 9/11 and terrorism today, noting lessons from the attacks 24 years ago that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and reshaped national security.

“I remember 9/11 being labeled the biggest act of terrorism in America where people lost their lives innocently," Williams said.

"I believe 9/11 educated the nation about the importance of being proactive instead of reactive on behalf of the nation's safety and peace of mind,” Williams said. “I view fraudulent behavior and cyberattacks as normal acts of terrorism.”

Goldwire said the attacks continue to influence everyday life.

"What is interesting to me is how quickly life was altered for people that day," she said. "I have always been taught that airports, security stops and even how Americans perceive safety all sprouted from 9/11.

“My lesson, to me, is that safety is not guaranteed — we must continually adapt to meet new threats, whether it be terrorism, mass shooting or even threats online."