With the one-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaching, many Americans will look back with pride at how our great country has unified in the wake of these great tragedies.

I will not be one of them.

Countless news broadcasters, journalists, and politicians said such a powerful bond had not existed between American citizens since the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Coincidentally, that was the last time a foreign group had the audacity to attack the greatest nation in the world. Many considered the days and months following the terrorist attacks as the United States’ finest hour.

Our finest hour? The mere suggestion is laughable. Our country has certainly made changes. I just can’t say they are for the better.

U.S. citizens were so “unified” that we took turns making the lives of other American citizens of Middle Eastern descent a living hell. The burden of writing hate mail, making threatening calls, and vandalizing property was equally shared by dozens of “patriotic” Americans.

Un-American-looking people (aka any non-Caucasian individuals) were looked upon with accusing eyes, made to feel like enemies in their own hometowns. If any of “those people” had the misfortune to have to fly following these attacks, they were often harassed by their fellow American passengers, and continually watched lest they try to take over the plane armed with pocket lint.

Ordinary citizens and politicians alike called for revenge. They did not simply want to seek out and destroy the terrorist operation that staged the attacks. That may be something England or China or some other country would resolve to do, but not us, not the good ol’ U.S. of A. Not only were we going to destroy the terrorists, but also the country where they lived, the government they lived under, the caves they might hide in, all the supermarkets they might get food from, and all the schools, just for good measure.

In fact, maybe we should bomb countless innocent civilians because they made the mistake of living in the same country as these criminals. Those civilians will not make that mistake again!

American patriotism soared to all-time highs. It was cool to be proud to be an American. Granted, it has always been cool to be American and, undoubtedly, everybody in the world really wants to be an American. Why wouldn’t you want to be? 1)We’re the best at everything. 2)We are the foremost world power. And 3)We have cable.

My theory is the attacks on September 11 were not spurned by hatred, but by the consuming jealously all non-Americans must feel. And the thousands upon thousands of people around the world who despise the U.S, – they are all just jealous. It has nothing to do with our country’s policy of choosing our bottom line over human rights or our embarrassing tendency to never think about anyone’s interests except our own. All these angry people are just dying for a chance to be let their lives be dominated by money, become alarmingly obese, and ignore the problems of the rest of the world just like us.

The patriotism following the attacks was so high that few journalists risked their safety to suggest that maybe we should examine why a large portion of the world hates us, or that maybe we shouldn’t destroy all of Afghanistan.

So if the national anthem is played on September 11, I will stand to honor the innocent victims, both those who died in America and in Afghanistan. But I will not stand filled with pride in the United States and marvel at how far we have come. I won’t be standing because I am proud of what we have become. I only feel disgust and regret for the actions and attitudes of my country.

These attacks have served as justification for both widespread discrimination and harassment of American citizens here in the U.S., not to mention the murders we’ve committed in Afghanistan. United We Stand? It’s nothing but an empty slogan.

Dustin Kass

is a junior in journalism

and mass communication from Dubuque.