“After September 11th, everything changed”It's true. Most of us have not only heard it said, but said it ourselves. After September 11th everything changed. How come, you ask? Many of our attitudes towards people of different ethnic origins and religions have changed. Many of us have changed our position on the immigration issue. We, as a country, as Americans, have changed in ways we never thought possible. Some questions I face in analyzing this issue are: Do we have a greater sense of unity as Americans now or not? Does this meaning cross racial, ethnic, and gender boundaries? Furthermore, I will analyze whether being afraid has made us xenophobic (being afraid of anyone of foreign origin). Since September 11, 2001, many things have changed, including our attitudes toward people with different backgrounds than ours. In an article written in The Iowa State Daily at Iowa State University in 2002, published in our book Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United States by Robert Fiske-Rusciano and Virginia Cyrus, the question of the three firefighters statue who raise the flag at ground zero are hoisted. The original photo, which we've all seen, shows three white firefighters at Ground Zero raising a flag. Some people thought a statue should be made with a white firefighter, a black firefighter and a Hispanic firefighter, to honor all the different firefighters who died that day. The families of the firefighters featured in the original photo were upset about this. But the main point made in this article was that, no matter what, the statue should be there to honor firefighters, politically correct or not. I was just wondering, why isn't anyone complaining that there isn't a Muslim firefighter? Interesting. What is stated in the article is that no one should complain about the race of these three firefighters. This memorial is intended to be an honor to ALL firefighters who died that day, whether white, black, Hispanic, Asian, or any other race. I think after September 11, 2001, we Americans had a greater sense of unity. You saw it. I mean, every house had a flag flying, there were flags on everyone's cars, people were nice to each other a lot more than they normally would be. However, it is as if this unity is fake. Halfway through the document the authors state that despite all the government's "hard work" to keep terrorists out of the country, most al Qaeda members would be allowed in today. A good point they make in this article is that the effort by governments to make us safer is too difficult. To keep potential terrorists out of the country, extensive work needs to be done. Instead of doing so, however, the government stops anyone who has the impression that their name might be Arab or Muslim. So now it's as if we've created a war with potential allies: Arab and Muslim Americans. Yes, after September 11, 2001, many things changed. Our thoughts about people of different racial and ethnic origins than ours may be the ones that have changed the most. Some people find it difficult to see beyond skin color. For some people this is extremely difficult. We have also changed our position on immigration. I guess people should no longer try to escape their oppressive government, because the US won't welcome them, especially if they appear to be from the Middle East. The three articles in the book highlight September 11th and how it changed everything.