NEWS
TWENTY YEARS AND LINGERING FEARS S E P T E M B E R 11 ’ S L A S T I N G E F F E C T S
By Eleanor Fucetola
T
his September was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. For Tufts students, it was a reminder of the legacy of 9/11 and how the event has influenced American society despite many of them being too young to remember the event. Tufts students, Americans, and people around the globe continue to be affected by the policy changes, xenophobia, and discourse surrounding terrorism that was created as a result of 9/11.
18 TUFTS OBSERVER OCTOBER 11, 2021
The US’ foreign policy measures created after 9/11 still influence the way many Americans think about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran as foreign threats, as well as the way that they perceive Muslims and Arab people in general. A poll by The Associated Press Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of the 9/11 anniversary in August 2021 found that 53 percent of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42 percent who have favorable ones.
“I’m always a little weary being a hijabi in certain spaces because people will assume certain things or come up to me and ask strange questions,” said junior Warisha Siddiqui. “I’ve had people come up to me feeling worried [saying] we’re sorry about wearing the hijab like I was forced to do it, when that’s not the case. I think that’s a product of Islamophobia and the perceptions of hijab.” While Siddiqui experiences the impacts of 9/11 today, she recounts how
