After the Sept. 11 attack, Mississippi State University graduates Casey Dunagan, Joel Konkle-Parker, Jenny Reeves and Brad Sweet are picking up the pieces and experiencing a new world in Washington, D.C. Life in their home-away-from-home has changed from normal to security capital.
“Even members of Congress have their cars checked for bombs every day before parking near the Capitol or near one of the office buildings, and where IDs used to be voluntary if you’d been around long enough to know the guards, now even congressmen are being asked to stop and show their IDs,” Dunagan said. “The laid-back tourist-friendly atmosphere has been replaced by a very prominent police presence.”
However, according to Reeves, habits and norms are changing in more positive ways.
“The most evident changes I have seen are in
the way people respond to one another,” Reeves said. “In general, I have seen this city become friendlier, less hurried, more focused on God and more patriotic. People speak to each other on the street because there is a greater sense of community here now … I have seen people slow down their hectic lifestyles to take more time with their families or to get to know their co-workers better … And I have never seen the American spirit stronger than I have in the past few weeks. I attended an amazing prayer vigil on the lawn of the Capitol on Sept. 12. Thousands of people showed up carrying American flags and chanting ‘USA! USA!’ The determined spirit in the air reminded me of a Mississippi State pep rally, only we weren’t chanting on the Bulldogs for a football game. We were cheering for America and for our way of life.”
Once people began getting over the shock and numbness of the first few days, they began crying out for retribution for the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
Against the harrowing events of the past few days, former political norms of the city have changed.
“All I’ve seen from people around here is unilateral support for Bush,” Konkle-Parker said. “This, in a nation that is known for its partisanship and political splinter groups, is an unprecedented phenomenon within the last few decades.”
“I think that people in D.C. find it much more satisfying to foster this sense that we’re all Americans, instead of a thousand different special-interest groups,” Sweet said.
Sweet said both political parties are in full support of the president’s decision, even almost a month after the attacks, to take military action against terrorism.
“Both Democrats and Republicans are extremely
supportive of President Bush as he leads our nation in this new era,” Reeves said. “Partisanship has been put on hold for the time being, as this city stands behind our military and executive leadership.” Furthermore, this attitude has spread to the streets as well.
“People are impatient for some type of military action to be taken against the terrorists and the regimes that shelter them,” Sweet said. “Many young people seem envious of rescue workers, law enforcement officers and military personnel that are involved in the investigation and preparations for a retaliation.”
According to Sweet, these attitudes are typical of the citizens of Washington, D.C., within our generation.
“I am struck by the reaction of people of our generation to these attacks,” Sweet said. “I remember in the past frequently hearing people our age say that we haven’t had a large-scale trial by fire as our parents and grandparents did with the Great Depression, World War II and the Vietnam War. Most people that I talk to now agree that the war on terrorism and the associated effects, such as possible recession, will be our generation’s trial by fire.”
In light of this, Sweet also adds that many of the people of Washington, D.C., are proving unwilling to leave the city because of the recent attacks.
“People want to move to Washington because they want to do important work that shapes the course of our nation, and there is nowhere else that you can do that,” Sweet said. “I love the South, and I love being a Southerner, but I can’t imagine being run out of our nation’s capital by a gang of terrorists.
“Besides, there is still work to be done, not only to ensure that justice is done to those behind these attacks, but also to make our nation even stronger so that this is less likely to happen in the future.