America on the Ledge
Of all the terrible images of September 11, 2001 — I hate looking at those photos, but they are in our faces at least once a year — the one I find most haunting is an image of people standing on the ledges of the windows high up on one of the towers, smoke and flames billowing behind them, the utter desolation of the empty space before them. Ordinary people who woke up that morning in Hoboken or Queens or Greenwich; people who put on their power suits or workers’ uniforms, who kissed their loved ones as they had done thousands of times before, and then caught the subway or buses or taxis to their places of work in the twin towers. Insurance agents plotting their first sales calls of the day, or admin assistants at the photocopiers, or the busboys at Windows on the World arranging the silverware for lunch. Ordinary people who never imagined that, by 9:30 am that day, they would have to make the worst choice a human being would ever have to make: be incinerated by the fire or jump into the abyss.
In a sense, since that unspeakable morning 22 long years ago, America has been standing on that ledge between the raging inferno of hatred and rising authoritarianism and the abyss of a fragmented culture that, for too many people, seems empty, narcissistic, alien. Is that too harsh? Perhaps, but a review of the headlines on most days suggests that a whole lot of Americans are jumping into the inferno while others cling hopelessly to the facade hoping for a miracle to save them.
The consequences of September 11 continue to plague this nation in ways that are often unacknowledged, unresolved, exploited by some and ignored by too many. On that day, and the days and weeks immediately thereafter, we said we’d never be the same again, we pledged unity against a common enemy, people were actually stunned into being nicer, more helpful and kind to each other. But soon came the backlash, and the unity turned to fragmentation that warped into political disarray and the rise of the authoritarian elements working feverishly to undermine democracy. The arc of history from September 11 to January 6 is not that long.
The sadness and collective grief of September 11 will never go away; the memorials will continue for generations. But if all we do is remember what happened on that day without confronting the long-term destructive consequences, we will remain trapped on that ledge. There are no miracles to come, only the hard, constant work of rebuilding a society that is rooted in the idea of the common good, that rejects demagoguery and the selfish pursuit of gains at the expense of all others. We need to restore this nation’s commitments as a place that aspires to achieve freedom, justice, opportunity and equality for all.
We remember all those who died and were wounded in so many ways on September 11 — in New York, at the Pentagon, on the airplanes, their families and friends and co-workers. Let’s pay tribute to them by renewing our commitment to rebuild America’s sense of community and purpose as a leader for good in this world.
