Message Log 63, 09/11/2051 - JEWL 3-1-2
Dear 2021 humans. Today marks your 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. For us, this day marks fifty years since that day, and we continue to honor the fallen and the lives that were forever changed.
While we have witnessed and survived disasters on a much larger scale and complexity since then, the 9/11 attacks will always have a special place in our hearts. On this day's anniversary, my parents and grandparents would remind me how the attacks marked a time when the country came together and promised to fight one of history's great evils...the War on Terror.
However, this war, which morphed into a broader fight against "terror" in general, brought additional suspicion that would fall on tens of thousands, and then hundreds of thousands from a stunned America appearing to crave a bold response imbued with a higher purpose.
This corrosive mindset became especially visible on immigration and border-control issues over the decades, as a culture of welcoming new citizens and families shifted to one of questioning and suspicion—especially if you had dark skin.
Political pressure prevented national-security officials from refocusing their attention and resources on the growing threat posed by white nationalists, armed militias, and other groups energized by the War on Terror's anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim strains.
Now, your reality is inextricably linked to the fear and suspicion that came to dominate America's response to the 2001 attacks, resulting in a long series of tragic consequences, cynical choices, and poisonous politics that have resulted in the hostile world we live in today, in 2051.