Posted: Sep 11, 08
4:27pm
Exactly seven years ago today at 9:59 a.m. I stood on Seventh Avenue and witnessed the fall of first World Trade Center tower. This morning at the same time I was pumping away on the elliptical trainer at the gym doing my best to elevate my heart rate. On the television directly in front of me was the annual commemoration ceremony at Ground Zero - minus the sound. One by one the names and faces of victims flashed across the screen, as family members paid tribute to lost husbands and wives, children and grandchildren, parents and grandparents.
Though the 2,751 who died were bound by a common fate, the grieving relatives remind us that each represents a separate tragedy. Still, their stories join to form a larger meaning. As I watched the names and faces, it seemed unmistakable that the unifying thread is diversity. There were facial features characteristic of every continent and skin of every color that skin comes in.
The names were just as evocative. Some ended in the lilting vowels of the Mediterranean and others in the tongue-twisting consonant clusters of Eastern Europe. Among first responders, Italian and Irish names were heavily represented, these being nationalities traditionally drawn to the New York police and fire departments. Meehan followed Medina on the list. Calabro followed Cahill.
There were Hispanic names, including four Garcias and three each of Gomez and Gonzales. Chin, Ching, Chung, and Cho were among the Asian names, along with several Chowdhurys. There were two Mohammads. Also two Glicks, three Goldsteins, a Goldberg and a Goldflam. (These are among the some 400 victim surnames that are usually Jewish, and that refute the offensive rumor that Jews who worked in the Twin Towers were warned not to go to work that day by Israeli agents who carried out the attack.)
Taken together, the men and women who died on 9/11 form an astonishing multi-ethnic mosaic. What have we done to honor the diversity they represented? Tried our best to destroy it. Denied visas. Tightened our borders. Intensified our suspicions of foreigners. Should we let into our country people with names like Emmanuel Akwasi Afuakwah? Or Alok Agarwal? Or Mukal Kumar Agarwala? Those are three consecutive names on the list of 9/11 victims. Today they sound more like names you'd find on a terrorist watch list.
