As my 2-year-old son slept across my chest in our Westchester County apartment, my life would change by this morning. I was awakened by my sister’s call; a plane had hit the World Trade Center. She wanted to know if I got called into work. I usually would work the day shift, but on 9\/11, I was working late as the Democratic primary was taking place, and I would be working election coverage. Thinking not much of it, I immediately turned on my television with my son lying across my chest and saw the damage done to the World Trade Center by the plane. As I watched a few minutes later, there it was, I saw a second plane flying across my screen live in real-time, directly striking into the World Trade Center, and the news anchor immediately saying, “The United States is under attack; the United States is under attack.”<\/p>\n
In my job capacity, I had a unique perspective, quickly observing what much of the world couldn’t witness, as the media, for once, exercised great sensitivity to prevent escalating public mayhem. I was able to see for myself scared people leaping from the tower. People’s sights and sounds were haunting, watching them jump in desperation and soon become casualties. The radio calls from those trapped and the images of individuals covered in blood, ash, and debris are etched in my memory and cannot be erased or deleted.<\/p>\n
Arriving at my mother’s house a day later, I headed straight to my bedroom. One of the perks of living by the Hudson in NYC was the daily view of the towers, a constant presence. Additionally, each July 4th brought the excitement of watching the fireworks show. As I gazed out on that day, the towers had disappeared, leaving an emptiness in my spirit, and I felt as though my life had been profoundly violated. The stagnant, visible black smoke lingered in the air for nearly a month, serving as a stark reminder to me that the terrorism I witnessed in distant corners of the world has now literally manifested at my doorstep. I lost friends, colleagues, and, admittedly, a part of myself that day.<\/p>\n
9\/11 will go down in history, but 9\/12 will also be etched in my memory. As we all anxiously awaited the identification and confirmation of those who were safe, injured, or still missing, a unique spirit began to resonate across NYC and America. On 9\/12, people were rallying together; blood donations were pouring in at record numbers; search and rescue workers were uniting together; police, fire, and hospitals came together; unions came together; and people were coming together regardless of race, political group, class, or status. People gathered from various walks in town halls, high schools, parks, and college campuses to sit, weep, watch, and mourn. For 24-48 hours after the bombing, we painted Mounk’s picture of losing our identity for a more significant identity! We collectively became the United States; we were all American! I still hear the chants, “USA, USA, USA.”<\/p>\n
The heart of Mounk’s writing is grounded against the backdrop of a new ideology centered on race, gender, and sexual orientation by those on the left. His conclusion is that a focus on identity is counterproductive as there would be a prioritization of one group above the other, ending in a zero-sum conflict. Mounk defends universalism but is not optimistic about the Trap’s future. \u201cthe forces favoring the identity trap and favoring its retrenchment will clash for years to come.”<\/em>[1]<\/a> \u00a0The identity trap is a legitimate argument. The emergence of new identity factions is on the rise daily, resulting in a more isolated and divided society than ever before.<\/p>\n Secondly, I concur that the rise in social media has taken a dramatic turn toward individualism. As you search, you can subscribe to many categories, leading to varying streams of identification. Mounk contends that if the losing identity could be replaced by seeing our commonalities, we could obtain different results. “I can also recognize that we are compatriots, agree on important political ideals, and share the fact of our humanity.”<\/em>[<\/em>2]<\/a><\/p>\n Is losing the identity trap humanly possible? He gives six arguments for it. However, there is some truth to Mounk’s position because if every identity were broken down within itself, there would be an instant overflow of diversified needs and focal points that would lead everyone down endless rabbit holes, never to return.<\/p>\n On the contrary, I would argue that there is a need for individual identity. Using world religion and 9\/11 as one example. I wonder what it would be like if everyone were identified as God’s followers without identity? That would be a recipe for disaster! Right now, many in the Muslim community are facing undue and intense scrutiny and profiling by some simply because of how identity labels all Muslims the same in their beliefs.<\/p>\n I also ask the question, “How can we reach an identity synthesis when a significant portion of our population seeks to downplay or dismiss the injustices and atrocities that so many people face?”<\/em> Hatred is still real, Bigotry is still a big problem, and sexism and discrimination still run prevalent in our society. An ongoing fight continues against the unarmed deaths by law enforcement and the mass incarceration of individuals from black and brown communities. There is a denial of election results but, more egregious, a persistent denial of the historic existence of slavery and American racism, a perspective popularly held between groups of politicians and people. The state of Florida has voted to revise, rewrite, and eliminate African American history from its school system. Here in New York, amidst the pandemic, we witnessed the disproportionate adverse impact of COVID-19 on black and brown populations, a reality I can attest to with the loss of 54 individuals I knew personally. This is no sympathy post, but a mere argument for the need for identity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n