Boston Strong Case Study

Tragedy is often thought to be synonymous with despair, confusion, and pain. When tragedy strikes, it brings heartache to the surrounding community and in the immediate aftermath of the attack, everyone is hurting. But then, just as the dust begins to settle, and the shock of the event has passed through our systems, we unite in unimaginable ways shouting phrases of patriotism, nationalism, and solidarity. “United We Stand” swept through the streets of New York City and across America after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, “Boston Strong” was heard throughout the Boston area and tweeted all over social media following the Boston Marathon bombing, and “Je Suis Charlie” was shouted in many rallies throughout France following the terrorist attack

Harlow and Dundes (2004) surveyed 403 college students only weeks after the 9/11 attack and asked them about their thoughts on 9/11 in hopes of seeing how united they stood. Following the survey, researchers meet with two groups of students, one group was made of white students and the other of black students in an open discussion meeting. To ensure that everyone felt safe in their group, a black researcher was assigned to talk to the black students and a white researcher was assigned to talk to the white students. After talking with the two groups, the researchers found that there were many differences between the groups in terms of patriotism and their views of the terrorists. One main difference between the groups was that the white students took the attack much more personally than the black students. For many white students, the attack was experienced as a shocking event, demanding vengeance. In response to the question “How did you feel on the day the attack occurred?” one white student, Tom, stated “That day I was all for bombing all the Middle East. I didn’t care where we hit… I mean, when you hit our Pentagon, and you hit our trade center and stuff like that it’s a big thing. We need to teach this world not to mess with us anymore” (Harlow & Dundes, 2004, p. 447). While black students believed that those who hate the United States must have valid criticisms. When asked how they felt about the idea of retaliating against Afghanistan, black students responded with confusion and hesitancy. One girl stated “I thought about all the people, all the innocent people getting killed… I thought it was unnecessary. American is this big superpower. There’s a lot more that they can do besides just dropping bombs in the middle of the night while people sleepin’” (Harlow & Dundes, 2008, p. 448). Overall it was found that Whites were more nationalistic and patriotic, and while some blacks