By Granderson
If September 11, 2001, was the day everything changed, then April 15, 2013, serves as another reminder of that change, of our frailties and of a new reality in which "it can't happen here" has been replaced by "it can happen anywhere."
When initial reports came
out of Boston about two explosions occurring near the finish line of
the 116th marathon -- a marathon that began with 26 seconds of silence
in honor of the 26 victims of the Newtown massacre -- we held our
collective breaths and hoped it was a freak infrastructure accident.
Or compromised electrical wiring.
Or a gas leak.
Anything other than ...
President Barack Obama
did not say the word "terrorism" in his brief address, perhaps waiting
until more facts are learned. We don't know how many are responsible,
we
don't know motive, if any, and we don't know whether it's domestic or
foreign. But we do know the FBI said the explosions were well-planned.
We know the Boston Marathon is seen around the world. And we know three
people are dead, including an 8-year-old boy, more than 100 are injured,
and countless lives have been scarred.So if September 11, 2001, was the day our innocence was taken, then April 15, 2013, is the reminder that it is never coming back.And we do not need the president to say the word to feel the word.
It is felt each time we
have to take off our shoes at the airport, have an TSA officer pat us
down, throw away a tube of toothpaste because it's over the allotted
3.4 ounces. The FAA temporarily restricted flights over the bombing
site while security was increased in cities as far away as Miami and Los
Angeles.
We do not need the president to say the word to feel it.
I was in central London
earlier this month and was having a difficult time finding a garbage can
whenever I had something to discard. Finally, I asked some of the
residents why it was so hard to find one and was reminded that the Irish
Republican Army hid bombs in garbage cans during the 1990s and as a
result they are still seen as a security threat.
This is what happens when evil like the kind experienced in Boston takes away our innocence.
It forces us to empty our pockets, have our bags inspected and remove trash cans from the streets of a major international city.
We don't need the
president to say the word to be reminded constantly that if we see
something, we need to say something, blurring the lines between a
healthy awareness of our surroundings and irrational paranoia. But then
again, is our paranoia that irrational if something as celebratory as
the Boston Marathon is no longer a safe place to be?
If September 11, 2001, made you cry, then April 15, 2013, should make you angry.
All of the laws, the
creation of Homeland Security, the trillions spent, the political
grandstanding and debates and yet the best we can do is make the country
safer. We will never, ever be safe again. Not in the way many of us
remember being safe growing up.
When I'm in a large crowded space, I check for emergency exits ... and I hate it.
But like love and good,
evil is an omnipresent force imposing itself on the rest of society like
an untreatable cancer. So while Obama telling the American people those
responsible will "feel the full weight of justice," we are haunted by
the fact that "justice" won't bring the victims back.
"Justice" won't undo the
fear embedded in the people who were closest to the blast. "Justice"
won't take us back to September 10, 2001 ... back before the word
"terrorism" was on the tip of every American's tongue.
And make no mistake,
while the president did not use that word in his news conference, that
is the word federal authorities are using. Doesn't matter if the
culprits of this heinous act came from afar or home. The origin of the
person or persons responsible won't bring us the peace that we took for
granted not so long ago. That peace is gone, forever. Our children will
hear stories about this peace and our children's children will treat it
as a fairy tale.
If April 15, 2013, was
the day the Boston Marathon became a target for terrorism, then
September 11, 2001, was the day we all were warned that it would be.
Since then nothing has been the same.
Nothing will be the same.
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