Boston Marathon Bombing

After a horrible terroristic attack that shocked the whole world on September 11th in the center of New York City, Muslims in the Western world have been constantly fighting against prejudice. After September 11, media interest in Islam increased, where Islam was usually portrayed in a negative way. Before 9/11, many Muslims lived the normal, everyday life. However, the attack has changed lives of many people that belonged to the Muslim community, where they were the victims of guilt. Unfortunately, many Americans were introduced to Islam, after the 9/11 attack, thus even till today, Islam is associated with terrorism. For the past ten years, Muslims felt excluded from the American society by being rifled, attacked, discriminated, checked

This leads to the discussion of American attitudes on Muslims. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, only a “slim majority of Americans report being comfortable with Muslim women wearing the Burqa (51 percent), a Mosque being built near their home (51 percent) and Muslim men praying at an airport (53 percent).”5 Khan’s article argues that “Since 9/11, the American Muslim community has often been on the defensive, fighting allegations that it supports radicalism, facing extensive scrutiny and intrusive spying by the government, responding to harassment by several law enforcement agencies, and feeling threatened by rising Islamophobia and a culture of hostility towards Islam and Muslims.”6 Here, his language seems to suggest that the American Muslim population is over-reacting because he focuses on the “momentum” the post-9/11 American Muslim’s “intellectuals are now beginning to revive.” In support of this claim, another survey conducted by the Arab American Institute Foundation concluded “eight out of ten Arab Americans…responded to 9/11 by contributing to a victims’ fund,

I learned of what happened to the federal building in Oklahoma City until later that evening of April 19, 1995 from the evening news. It obviously was breaking news all day and it hit home for some people who knew workers there. The most heartbreaking were the lives of innocent children that were claimed in the bombing. Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirator Terry Nichols were behind this treacherous attack in the U.S. On that day, the assault executed 168 individuals, 19 of them kids, and harmed more than 500. It was the biggest terrorist act at any point transpired on U.S. soil (CNN, 2001).

From the fear of communism to the fear of terrorism, mass hysteria affects the United States the most. According to Abraham Lincoln, the United States will not fall from without, but from within. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1963. Miller illustrates mass hysteria by using the actions of Abigail, Tituba, and Marry Warren in order to show how their actions compromised justice in Salem. The response of the Boston Marathon Bombing is an example of mass hysteria like in The Crucible. In this essay, I will argue that those who act to preserve power use fear and uncertainty, irrational behavior and fear must continue to fuel the hysteria, and the lawgivers must use unjust actions to establish justice. The reason I decided to choose the theme of mass hysteria is to show the relevance and importance of mass hysteria in our recent history.

September 11, 2001 is a date in history that changed the lives of people from all over the world and especially the lives of Americans. On this day nineteen militant men associated with al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group, hijacked four airplanes and carried out multiple suicide attacks on different locations in the United States. Two of the planes directly struck the World Trade Center located in New York City, one of the other two planes hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the final plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination. On this day, more than 3,000 people were killed including over 400 first responding police officers and firefighters. In recent years as people look back on that day it is remembered as a time when the country was joined together by grief and showed an overwhelming amount of comfort and support to the victims and their families; it was also a time of extreme national pride. People also remember that following the attacks the economy suffered tremendously, in addition, air traffic which makes up a portion of the economy was greatly disrupted, both of which created uncertainty about the security of the financial markets critical to the success of the United States. What most people do not remember is the immediate backlash and hostility the Muslim and Arab communities received following the attacks by both civilians and the media. This is a topic that has been largely ignored by the public and media’s

On March 5, 1770, two regiments of British soldiers that were stationed in Boston opened fire on a mob of bystanders that wanted the British out of Boston. This protest was for the ending of the quartering of soldiers in people’s homes. On May 4, 1970, the National Guardsmen fired upon the unarmed students of Kent State University who were protesting against fighting in the Vietnam War. The result of this was a change in the policies of the National Guard and to use rubber bullets. These two shootings in American history are examples of Military Representatives actively firing on unarmed citizens. Also, examples of the civilians provoking the Military Representatives for them to shoot. We can use these examples for today’s society to further the developments in non-lethal actions against protesters. But before the lessons learned with these two shootings are highlighted, the history and significance of these events need to be understood.

April 19, 1995, a date that will not be forgotten by the citizens of Oklahoma City. The day that a bombing took place at the Murrah building, killing over 168 people. The main culprit, a man that has a bone to pick with the government. With the assistance of a few of his friends, strike the biggest terrorist attack in the United States before 9-11 took place. Fortunately the major culprits were apprehended and arrested. However, the mastermind was sentenced to death. His name would never be forgotten and he succeeded in leaving a mark on the nation's history. Timothy McVeigh, the cruel crook who desired nothing less than the downfall of the government. The punishment McVeigh received was right in the name of justice.

Deeply with my own concern for our nation, my feelings point more towards terrorist acts upon our country. Growing up in the era, where our nation went through losing prayer from schools. The Oklahoma bombing, the 9/11 attacks, Columbis Ohio school shoootings. I concider theses terrorist attacks. All, but one has been proven attacks caused by white Americans, I'm not, "saying all white's are bad." The United States of America 45th president placed a travel ban on certing contries banning their people from the United States on the color of their skin, religion and whou really knows what more.

April 15, 2013 hundreds of innocent Americans were traumatized forever. The 117th annual Boston Marathon was hit with an act of terrorism. Two-hundred-sixty people lost their legs while three people lost their lives. On this day Americans realized how important security is. One thousand federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel sat down and watched surveillance footage for hours tracking the terrorist that caused the Boston Bombing to occur. April 18, 2013 the FBI released footage and images of suspects whose identity was once unknown to gain more knowledge. Due to security footage the men who committed the monstrous act were brought to justice. Without the public surveillance these terrorist would have never been found. (Boston Marathon Bombings.History.com Staff.History.com.2014.Boston Marathon Bombings.)

The article of my choosing that express American spirit is the Boston Marathon Bombings and how the city of Boston came together after a terrible terrorist act. Boston Stronger is written by David Ortiz Boston Red Sox Designated hitter.The Boston Red sox and David ortiz had a major part in helping the city come together as one.The Red sox won the world series in october six months after the bombing. David expressed that something like this should never happen especially on a day that represents sports so well. David had trouble understanding why the terrorists choose this event where people run for such good causes like raising money for cancer . Ortiz came was born in the Dominican republic and came here for baseball so he didn't know to much

The day was absolutely beautiful, sunny with decent temps which made for perfect running condition for the runners during the 117th Boston Marathon, and event held on Patriot’s day to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord that had started the Revolutionary War in 1775. 23,000 runners lined up at the starting line in the city of Hopkinton, the first wave of runners started at 9:32. At approximately 2:49 p.m. is when 2 bombs went off, at least 5,600 people still racing towards the finish line at the time of the explosion (History).

In American history, many great events happened. In the same thought there have also been bad ones. The Boston Marathon Bombing. On April 15, 2013, two bombs were placed and exploded. They killed 3 people and injured at least 264. Yet, even if there was so much destruction, there was also great things to come out of it. Americans showed that willpower, fighting for justice, and aiding other people is part of our identity

The bombing of the Boston Marathon is one of the least deadly terrorist attacks against our county, but has brought to light many lessons that need to be learned. The Boston Marathon Bombing took place on April 15, 2013 at 1449 hours. Two men planted bombs near the finish line of the event which killed three spectators and wounded 260 others. The bombs were pressure cooker bombs packed with shrapnel and other materials hidden in backpacks that were maliciously placed amidst the crowd (History.com Staff, 2014).

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).