As more attacks occur on U.S. soil, both domestic and foreign, the conversation on terrorism will continue to evolve.
It was just before nine a.m. on a Tuesday. My mom sat down on the bed, turned on CBS, and picked up my three-week-old sister to feed her.
Glancing up, she saw a plane crash into the World Trade Center on live television. Her first response was confusion. She called my dad, who was at work. “I don’t know what’s going on. A plane just hit the World Trade Center.”
My dad didn’t understand her. “What happened? A plane hit what?” It was as if whatever she was talking about hadn’t actually happened. He couldn’t wrap his brain around what he was told.
Before long, the second plane hit. That’s when my parents—and the world—knew this wasn’t an accident. It was an act of terrorism.
Many in the Millennial generation were barely old enough to remember the events of 9/11. I was only six years old, and in the first grade. Our generation has never known a world without war or terrorism.
Terrorism—both domestic and foreign—continues to influence the United States. This week, Ball Bearings digs into this tough, and often controversial, subject. How terrorism is defined and who is considered a terrorist is up for debate, but the fact that terrorism is changing is not.
In June of 2016, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was subject to the worst mass shooting to ever occur on U.S. soil. The shooter was American-born, but claimed ISIS allegiance. Today, international terrorism has the potential to come from within our own borders. Terrorist ideals are spread through social media—eliminating the need for a terrorist group to be physically together.
With an ever-changing definition and new platforms to spread radical beliefs, the conversation about terrorism will continue to be an uncomfortable, yet necessary, one.
