Nikki Stern's husband was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. In an op-ed in USA Today, Stern says a sense of national unity after the attacks was short-lived.
Nine years after the attacks, Stern says she hears only outrage, fear and mistrust when Americans discuss Sept. 11. And ground zero, she argues, has become a symbol of grief and anger.
Despite the moving speeches heard on each 9/11 anniversary, Stern says the overriding legacy for most Americans is either anger or apathy. And the divisiveness she sees, argues Stern, is a poor tribute to those killed in the attacks.
Stern, author of Because I Say So: The Dangerous Appeal Of Moral Authority, prefers to remember the days of late 2001, when she observed people reaching out to support one another, despite political and religious differences.
Perhaps, says Stern, the 9th anniversary of 9/11 is the time to revisit that spirit.
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