I was in the third grade when the attack happened on the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. April 19, 1995. I think I was really too young to understand the gravity of the situation, but I know it scared me. A lot of people died, and even more people got hurt... all at the hands of (mainly) one angry individual. How could someone do that? Even more so, how could that happen so close to home?
On September 11, 2001, I was a sophomore in high school. I was listening to the events unfold while I attempted to take notes in my US History class. I wasn't so young anymore and I fully understood the gravity of the situation. There was a group of people outside of the United States that wanted to cause significant harm to innocent people within our own borders. It was terrifying. That naïve feeling of near-invincibility was absolutely shattered.
January 6, 2021 will join those days, and many other "days of infamy" that have happened in the United States. They are dates to be remembered, not because of some good or positive thing that happened... but when America was attacked because of who we were and/or what we stood for. Last Wednesday, the US Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. was overrun by a group of domestic terrorists. The violent mob was sent there to cause destruction by none other than our very own President. A crowd in the thousands marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, at the request of Trump, and angrily protested in front of the Capitol. Inside the building were joint sessions of the House and Senate, completing the (mainly ceremonial) counting of the electoral college vote results for the 2020 Presidential election. The votes had been tallied, the deed had been done, there was basically nothing that anyone in opposition to the results could do to change the outcome. But this mob had been lied to and told there was a chance. So they acted... violently.
Albeit late, the police and national guard DID finally show up and they re-took control. The dust eventually settled. Members of congress actually came back into the very place that had just been desecrated and completed the task they had been sent their to fulfill. Despite cries of a rigged election, (unsuccessful) court hearings, press conferences, rallies, and now a riot... Joe Biden is going to be the President of the United States.
April 19 was really where the "Oklahoma Standard" was created. Our state came together, united and healed. September 11 was pretty much the same. People ceased being democrats and republicans, they were Americans (cheesy, right?). Part of the healing process and unity involved holding the responsible parties accountable for what they had done. Timothy McVeigh was arrested, tried and eventually put to death. September 11 eventually drew us into a long drawn-out war with Afghani terror groups. So, how does America heal from this tragedy? Like April 19, this attack came from within. The main culprit of this crime just so happens to be the leader of a political party and the current sitting President. A disturbingly large number of his supporters have fused their identities with their support for him, making it impossible for them to not feel attacked when he is criticized. You disapprove of Trump? You disapprove of who they are at their core...or that's how they perceive it. How do people get so intrinsically connected to a single individual? It's almost cult-like. But that is a whole other post (ooh! Good idea!) topic.
So where do we go from here? I honestly have no clue. The optimistic side of me thinks that truth and love and all that positive stuff will prevail. The pessimistic side of me wonders how I will ever be able to look at those people that supported this attack again. There are people that I have loved and cared for, people that have meant a lot to me and helped me along in my journey. This past week revealed a darker, uglier side of these people. How do I move on? How do we proceed and pretend that everything is okay? Even if justice IS served and those who were involved get what is coming to them, there are MILLIONS of "normal" Americans that thought what happened on Wednesday was "fuckin' great!" Some people will sit in jail, while MANY more will continue to live like nothing ever happened. Much like everything else, I guess I'll just take it one day at a time.
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