"Cliff was hired a year before Middle Eastern madmen reminded America that terrorism was not just a threat on foreign soil."
Excerpt from "Gateway Gas": A novel by Sylvester Brown, Jr.
Chapter Thirty Four:
A Foreign Affair
September 11, 2001
Cliff barely paid attention to the news that morning. He was getting ready for work, casually watching the Today Show. After a commercial, Katie Couric, who sat on a couch with her co-anchor, Matt Lauer, announced: “We have a breaking news story. Apparently, a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Center here in New York City. It happened just a few moments ago, apparently. We have very little information available…”
It was almost 7:00 a.m., central time. Cliff watched the news footage of cloud-like, dirty smoke billowing from the north tower of the skyscraper. What he thought was just a horrible plane crash became much more moments later. Another Boeing 767 had slammed into the second south tower of the World Trade Center.
Within the hour, there were reports of two more plane crashes, one into the side of the Pentagon and another somewhere in Pennsylvania. Cliff ran to his apartment’s balcony and looked skyward. Was America under attack?
When he arrived at work, the newsroom was an intense flurry of activity as the Pentagon burned and the fiery twin towers eventually collapsed. Horrific images of people jumping from wounded, burning buildings; smoke and ash filled city streets; soot-covered pedestrians running for their lives; emergency responders heroically and desperately working to save lives-all dominated the news across the world.
The next day, President George W. Bush addressed the nation, promising vengeance on a yet-to-be-identified enemy. Nine days later, Bush spoke before Congress, announcing a “War on Terror” against a fanatical Islamic group known as “al Qaeda.” Bush vowed to defeat it and “every terrorist group within global reach.” Five days later, Sept 25th, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the beginning of the anti-terror campaign called “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
***
Cliff had never paid attention to the name “Laila Ashani” before September 11, 2001. She worked in the “Features” section of the newspaper, which he never read. But two months after the terrorist attack, Ashani penned an editorial about her experience as a Muslim born in America. She wrote about her parents, Ghasaan and Maraam Ashani, and their dream of coming to America from Pakistan in 1982 and starting their own business.
Within ten years, the East Indian couple owned three motels in the St. Louis and East St. Louis regions. Their only daughter, Laila, worked in those motels along with the Ashani’s brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and other Pakistani relatives and friends. Under her parent’s scrutinizing eyes, Laila excelled in elementary, high school and college where she earned a full-ride scholarship in journalism at the University of Missouri. She was hired at the Globe immediately after graduation.
On the day her commentary was published, Cliff found kinship with the writer. He then read her company profile where she proudly spoke of having the wonderful opportunity to break down stereotypes, misunderstandings, cultural differences and explore the things Muslim-Americans had in common with native born Americans.
Laila was largely successful in that endeavor until nearly 3,000 people lost their lives during the terrorist attacks. When she wrote her editorial, the U.S. had already gone to war in Afghanistan, reportedly targeting the Taliban and al Qaeda training camps. Laila detailed how life had suddenly changed for her, her parents, and any Muslim or “Arab” who remotely fit the ever-evolving description of what most Americans deemed a “terrorist.”
Laila wrote that she saw the “best and worst of America,” citing the love and support Americans displayed for the victims and their families. She spoke of her own bereavement for the lost lives while, at the same time, detailing how Muslim-Americans had become the latest victims of racial and religious discrimination, government oppression and physical attacks. Lalia ended her piece with a plea for understanding, compassion and her personal desire to grieve without the fear of retribution from “fellow Americans.”
Cliff read the responses from readers who mostly condemned Laila and Muslims in general. They spoke of deporting “internal enemies,” rounding up Muslim immigrants and placing them in internment camps. Some questioned the Globe’s commitment to the war, “American values” and demanded Laila’s immediate termination.
After her editorial was published, Cliff made a point to introduce himself.
“I liked your commentary,” he told the beautiful, sundrenched, brown-eyed reporter.
“What you wrote took a lot of guts.”
Gateway Gas is available at Amazon.com
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