BLOG: Divided We Fall
Americans in the aftermath
By Jennifer Scott, Staff Writer
May 19, 2008 | 6 a.m.
"Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath" is a documentary that was shown at the Baker Center Theatre on May 5, presented by the film's creator, Valarie Kaur. A discussion followed on the prejudices that affected Americans after Sept. 11.
The day that Americans viewed a plane as threatening, as something that was used as a weapon rather than for travel, was the day that people adopted a new prejudice. Sept. 11, 2001, is a date that Americans will never forget. It was, for some, the first time the safety of the country they lived in was threatened.
After the initial attacks on America, many more attacks were made within our country. Attacks on those who wore turbans, who some believed were Muslims, terrorists. Now, six years later, people are just as afraid to admit that they were prejudiced after Sept. 11, as they were afraid of those they were prejudiced against.
On May 5, Baker Center Theatre presented "Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath," a documentary in which Valarie Kaur, an undergraduate college student at the time of the terrorist attacks, went across the country to tell stories not shown on the evening news.
Valarie is a Sikh American, and after the Sept. 11 attacks, there were many attacks made on her people. The death of Balbir Singh Sodhi was what triggered the questions that caused Valarie to travel fourteen cities in her journey to discover who looks like an enemy, who looks like an American and who counts as “one of us.”
Throughout the documentary, Valarie interviewed people on different sides of the spectrum. While at some points in the film she asked Sikhs how they felt and if they had anyone threaten them, she also asked white men why they told her cousin—who was filming and wearing a turban—to go back to “his country.”
The stories she reported were heart wrenching and thought provoking. Valarie pointed out that after Sept. 11, many people feared those who were seen wearing a turban because they were thought to be Muslim, while in reality most of the people in American who wear turbans are actually Sikh, not Muslim.
Valarie brought up controversial topics that hit close to home. She asked those of us in the audience if we were prejudiced after Sept. 11. She pointed out that everyone has moments of prejudice and that we might not even realize it.
With this idea streaming through my head, I went on a mission to find out if the people of my generation had the same prejudices against the turban as many people in America did at the time of the terrorist attacks.
Walking across College Green, I noticed a few men eating lunch. I asked one of the men if he feared the turban after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He, unfortunately, didn’t answer my question, and he gave me a look as if to say, “I don’t want to go there.”
When I asked freshman Tim Brennan if he feared the turban after the attacks, he took some time to think, as if making his answer acceptable to the public.
“Right after 9/11, if I saw someone in a turban I might stop to think, but I can’t judge a person based on that,” Brennan said.
Another answer that I received to the same question was almost as cliché as Brennan’s. “[Seeing people in a turban after 9/11] didn’t bother me. [The attacks] had nothing to do with that,” senior Ryan Bland said.
In my quest for diverse answers to my question, I came across no such thing. Instead, I was confronted with answers that were safe. It surprised me that college students, who are usually the most active at taking chances and fighting for what they believe no matter what the risks, are so frightened of causing controversy.
We as Americans fight for free speech every day across the country, but why fight so hard for something if you aren’t going to take advantage of it every time you have the chance? I’m not calling those students whom I did interview liars, but from the looks on their faces as they carefully chose their words, I hardly believe their answers were completely honest.
I learned through this experience that young adults aren’t as gutsy as we make ourselves out to be.
After the presentation of Valarie Kaur’s documentary, I realized that even I had formed a prejudice against who I thought were Muslims, terrorists. It has been six years since I attended my seventh grade geography class where I first watched a plane fly into a building that I didn’t even know existed. In those six years, it has taken me much effort and time to forget the picture of Muslims as terrorists and regain my sense of equality among people.
No one can say who counts as an American or who looks like one. No one can say who looks like an enemy or who looks like “one of us.” Those shouldn’t be questions we waste our time wondering about. Instead, we should take advantage of the many cultures that surround us and learn from each and every one of them. After Sept. 11, I feared the turban, and I value the fact that I can admit that without the fear of offending someone.
As students, we have the opportunity to express ourselves in so many ways in a community built just for us. We must take advantage of that and not allow the fear of controversy to silence our judgments.
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