Twenty-five years after the September 11th attacks, an entire generation of young adults has no firsthand memory of the day that reshaped American life.
For many students at Salisbury University, their understanding of 9/11 instead comes from parents, teachers and the world they grew up in.
“It happened so long ago,” SU junior Kyla Lins said. “Again, we weren’t alive for it. I’m just like, it happened.”
Freshman Natalie Von Paris was born in 2007, but remembers hearing how her parents watched the attacks unfold on television. Her uncle was in New York City at the time, leaving her family in nearby Connecticut frightened by what was happening.
Other consequences are easier for students to recognize themselves. Airport security was repeatedly mentioned, while freshman Michaela Atwell, a Black Muslim American, pointed to stereotypes that continue to affect younger Muslims.
“Sometimes being Muslim in this country is seen as violent and disconnected,” Atwell said, adding that Islamophobia became more prominent following the attacks.
Dr. Joshua Bolton, an assistant professor of communication at Salisbury University who was an undergraduate in 2001, said the legacy extends beyond the most visible changes. Increased surveillance, debates surrounding national security and shifts in American foreign policy continue to shape a world younger Americans have never known without them.
As 9/11 moves further from lived memory and into history, Bolton said that transition is natural. For today’s students, remembering increasingly means learning from those who were there, and recognizing the ways the aftermath remains part of their everyday lives.
