UCLA Today: Returning to New York to bear witness to Sept. 11

RETURNING TO NEW YORK TO BEAR WITNESS TO SEPT. 11
BY JORJA PROVER

To return to New York one year after Sept. 11 was an emotionally wrenching experience. To return with 65 UCLA undergraduates in tow offered a valuable lesson on the meaning of 9/11.

From the moment the World Trade Center towers collapsed, the American public displayed two responses. The first, intrinsic to all crises, was shock, reflected in the words I repeated to myself and heard from others when I rushed to New York to train therapists and volunteers to work with victims’ families: “This cannot be happening, not in America.”

The second response, elementally American, was the desire to do something. The will to act was a constant among the UCLA community, including my students, undergraduates in the School of Public Policy and Social Research. These students, led by Sara Morgan and Stacey Duncan, decided to fly to New York last December at their own expense to volunteer at Ground Zero.

This month, many of these students, joined by others, returned with me to New York to bear witness and participate in memorial services.

On the evening of Sept. 11, they gathered for a memorial service they created at Engine 40, Ladder 35, a firehouse on the west side of Manhattan which lost 12 of its 13 men when the towers fell. The students had read David Halberstam’s emotional book “Firehouse” and felt strongly tied to this place. That night, the students and firehouse personnel lit candles and shared memories.

Concurrently, nearly 300 UCLA students and community members in Los Angeles, unable to travel to New York, insisted on participating in this commemoration. Convening at Westwood Plaza, they joined in via cell phones and digital technology, underscoring the shared significance of this historical moment. Despite our return to “normal life,” the collective memory of 9/11 will not fade.

In New York, we also viewed a photographic exhibit of the “Faces at Ground Zero.” Portrayed were the faces of America, of every age, socioeconomic background and ethnicity imaginable. And the UCLA students mirrored that reality: Here were student athletes and future public servants, Asian Americans, Latinos, Muslims, African Americans and Anglo Europeans.

Our faces also symbolized a national change. Six decades ago, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, thoughtless xenophobia led to the establishment of relocation camps for Japanese Americans. In contrast, Sept. 11 evoked a heartening response: A climate of ethnic and religious tolerance has prevailed. The call for diversity and tolerance has probably been the most important American response to Sept. 11 — a reaffirmation of freedom in the face of destruction.

It is meaningful that the Gettysburg Address and a portion of the Declaration of Independence were both read during commemoration ceremonies at Ground Zero. The former eloquently embodies loss. The latter represents the great experiment in freedom that was and, after 9/11, still is America. This ultimately is the great lesson of Sept. 11, 2001.

Prover is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Social Welfare in the School of Public Policy and Social Research.