Attacks fueled people’s worst, best
by Lara Farrar
(ARKANSAS ONLINE) It was several hours after two commercial airplanes slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City during fifth-period science class when Arsala Khan first noticed that something had changed.
Born in Pakistan, Khan, with her wavy black hair and olive-toned skin, already was an outsider in Arkadelphia, a rural town that is predominantly made up of Blacks and of whites. She, her parents and two sisters moved to Arkadelphia in August 2001.
As news emerged that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, were orchestrated by an organization of Muslim extremists, Khan suddenly changed from outsider to enemy. As a Muslim, students seemingly turned on her, glaring, making rude comments, asking insensitive questions about Islam.
At the time, she was 13.
“I remember immediately having to justify who I was and where I came from,” Khan, now 33, said. “I’ve spent the last 20 years reliving that same science class, feeling like I am still in fifth period, trying to justify who I am.”
“It’s been such an uphill battle.”
As the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks approaches, there are some Americans and immigrants to the U.S. who experienced a collective trauma that is often overlooked and that many say still lurks in the shadows today.
