Today is 9/11, and it has been 22 years since this tragic day left an unfading mark on our country.
When this tragedy occurred, everyone was invested. To this day, anyone who was alive when it happened could tell you exactly what they were doing when they found out.
Fast forward to today and most college students don’t know a world in which 9/11 didn’t happen.
To older generations, this is staggering. To the generation after 9/11, it is simply a fact. The U.S. was involved in wars in the Middle East for most of their lives, and the conflict somehow felt more like normalcy than a reaction to a terrorist attack.
Almost every college student knows what 9/11 is and what happened that day. They might repost something about it on their social media or have a connection to someone who fought or sacrificed their life during the attack.
At the same time however, there does seem to be a lack of deep connection to this event and to patriotism as a whole — not just from college students but from Americans in general.
In the past 25 years, Americans’ value of patriotism has taken a major decline. According to the Wall Street Journal’s 2023 NORC survey, only 38% believe that patriotism is “very important” to them, opposed to 70% who believed that in 1998.
The Gallup Poll conducted a similar survey on confidence in major U.S. institutions and presented a steady decline since the late 80s. Besides slight spikes in belief in institutions surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2020 pandemic, most Americans are not confident in the U.S. government, the justice system or organized labor.
Those numbers only seem to fall lower.
However, the country can rally when it needs to, and that is a huge reason for commemorating 9/11 — one of the most significant American crises in history.
Patriotism is important. It is what gets us through our darkest moments. Throughout our country's history, it has been the unity of patriotism in the face of evil and the fight to preserve the freedom we hold dear that has defined America.
America’s flaws cannot be overlooked. But it is persistence in spite of flaws that brings light into the darkness.
We need both scrutiny of our nation’s behavior and faith in its endeavors and ideals. Having only one or the other will lead to an imbalanced system that is not strong enough to support itself.
There is space in patriotism to acknowledge America for things it has done and left undone. If we give up on patriotism as a whole, though, we will not have enough left to overcome evil or unite to accomplish anything. Patriotism brings community, empathy, bravery, care, determination, action, forgiveness, justice and encouragement.
Patriotism isn’t blind faith — it is faith that is hard-pressed, challenged, authentic and proud. Even though we do not live in a perfect country, being an American is something to be proud of.
This is the mindset we need to focus on this Sept.11.
Perhaps the honor surrounding this date will be a reminder of how important patriotism is in the face of tragedy. Perhaps it will reawaken a care for our nation and the people in it.
America is a place where everyone’s voice ought to be heard, and everyone deserves justice. Practice is far more blurry than principle, but it is principle with persistence — with patriotism — that directs practice.
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Sami Grace Donnelly, junior in English literature, began writing for the Plainsman in the Fall of 2021. She has served as a columnist, the Opinion Editor and is now a writer abroad during her exchange program in Spain.
