HONY, 9/11 Guy, and That Time Kate Got Mad at the Internet

As an English teacher, it's absolutely my job to teach reading and comprehension skills. I want to talk a little bit about those today, because I've noticed a trend on social media: we, as social media users, seriously lack those skills. 

I follow the photography page Humans of New York on Facebook. If you don't, I highly recommend that you do. Brandon Stanton has a way of capturing the stories of people, real people, along with their portrait. I've engaged in many intellectual conversations with the fellow commenters. 

On July 12th, HONY posted a caption from a man who has since been dubbed "9/11 guy". I've taken a screen shot of the photo and the caption for you. Take a gander, and then I'm going to analyze a little bit below. 

Okay. Done? Great job. For just a second, I'm going to ask you to curb your gut reaction. You're probably thinking something like "this guy! Why I oughta..." 

Stop. Don't go there. 

Go back. Read it again. Read it objectively. Read it not as an American, not as a victim of a terrorist attack. Read it as a student. Maybe this is an article assigned to you, and you are responsible for explaining the viewpoint to the rest of the class. Take your opinion and your feelings out of the equation. 

Deep breath. Ready? 

Take a look at a few selected comments from the post: 

• "Brandon why are you giving this person a voice? "Not only do I think that 9/11 was deserved. I think it was one of the greatest events in human history." That is extremely hurtful to the thousands of innocent people who died that day, and the friends and families who continue to mourn them." 

• "This man is a poor representation of "Humans of New York". The REAL Humans of New York stand with the victims of 9/11 and their families. The last two sentences of his statement disgust me."

• "Then feel free to denounce your citizenship and leave this country. We may not be the perfect country but what country is? Its why we have freedom of speech and freedom to gather. To discuss our agreements and disagreements. You get to spew your hate filled speech with no fear of imprisonment or death by this country's leaders thanks to this great United States of America."

• "I honestly don't know why people like this don't just move out of America if they hate it so much. I agree we interfere way too much overseas but saying the deaths of thousands of innocent people was one of the greatest events in human history is wrong. He obviously has no soul."

Had your fill? Yeah. Me, too. Yes, we have freedom of speech in this country, so this man can absolutely say what he wants. But that's not my goal here today. I'm not here to talk about your rights. I'm here to talk about the fact that some of us need to pick up a dictionary. 

This man has a strongly worded opinion, admittedly. However, he does not say that he hates America. He does not say that the innocent lives taken in the 9/11 tragedy deserved to die. What he said-- and what he meant-- is that we as a country reaped what we sowed. The consequence of our actions was 9/11. "Our actions" being the war we have raged on other countries. Are our actions moral and just simply because they're American actions? No. But we have a tendency to believe this way. I am in no way promoting a political agenda here, friends. If that's what you're after, we can discuss privately. I'm trying to decode the language the same way I would do for my students. 

Let's look at the word "great" for just a quick second. The definition is this: remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness. This has neither a positive nor negative connotation. Yes, some people commit great acts of kindness, but we also call it the Great Depression for a reason. Not because it was wonderful, but because the degree to which it affected the country was great. This man is not saying that 9/11 was the best thing to happen in the history of human events; he is saying it was possibly one of the most influential events. And isn't that true? It shook our country to its core, and the recourse has become the center of political debate 15 years following it. The aftermath has affected not just the American people, but the countries to which we are connected or tied-- positively or negatively. 

This is a struggle, not just in my classroom, but in general. One of my favorite pastimes is arguing with people on the internet. I have an inherent need to be right, yet I'm also an educator at heart. I'll be the first one to correct someone using "retarded" to mean stupid, or to point out logical fallacies. I want the internet to be smarter, and I know I fight a losing battle. I notice that more often than not, my students and the internet share in their emotionally charged reactions. Set in their opinions and mindsets, they so often read what they want to, whether or not the text actually says it. We work on evidence a lot in my classroom, proving our points with what is actually said and can be logically interpreted. 

Perhaps I should share those lessons with the rest of the world.