The Challenges of Being an Arab-American Post 9/11

The atrocious attacks of September 11th, 2001, still trigger heavy emotions eight years after the event.   Those attacks destroyed not only the World Trade Center, but the infrastructure of our great nation, and left people questioning, “Why?”   The world watched as America picked itself up and attempted to straighten itself out.   There was one group of Americans, however, who saw their lives being closely followed.   This group of Americans was the Arab-American portion of the United States, who were now all being observed with watchful eyes from our government.   Stereotyping of all kinds was now a relevant issue within the States.   Hate crimes were seen across the country.   Demands for an attack on the Arab nation were being shouted from every household in America.   Those Arab-Americans were now living uncomfortably in the United States, as their own neighbors and friends suddenly had second thoughts about them.   Suddenly all Arabs were being profiled as flight risks.   After these acts shook the foundation of the United States, the government suddenly became very careful of whom they were letting fly across the world.   After the attacks of 9/11, many innocent Arab-Americans were racially profiled while getting passports and traveling by air to determine whether or not they were security risks to the United States.
During the early morning of September 11th, at approximately 8:46 a.m. two American Airlines airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center and forever changed the nation of the United States.   These acts were an orchestrated terrorist attack laid out by Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group named al-Qaeda (History Commons, “9/11 Timeline”).   In total, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists committed these acts, and also hijacked two other planes that crashed in a Pennsylvanian forest and into a wing of the Pentagon (History Commons, “9/11 Timeline”).   With these attacks fresh in mind, President George W. Bush radically changed how airport security was...