Once united, America has grown more divided since Sept. 11 attacks

As the prima acceptable implicit Washington, D.C., connected Sept. 11, 2001, astir 150 members of Congress, representing some parties, stood connected the steps of the Capitol building.

From left: Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, House Majority White, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., sing “God Bless America,” Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001, during a supplication vigil successful the Rotunda of the Capitol held successful grant of those who died successful Tuesday’s violent acts connected the U.S. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert)

They came unneurotic to reassure their chap Americans aft the violent attacks killed astir 3,000 people.

Then, without prelude, a gaggle of Congress members began singing “God Bless America.” Others joined in. The serenade grew louder. And soon, the full bipartisan delegation became a chorus offering the federation a cathartic infinitesimal of unity.

“It’s astir apt the astir agreed I’ve seen Congress,” said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Murrieta, who has served successful the House of Representatives since 1993.

Nearly 20 years later, connected Jan. 6, Calvert and the remainder of Congress witnessed different seminal infinitesimal successful the Capitol’s history:

Insurrection.

A throng of erstwhile President Donald Trump’s astir ardent supporters, enraged by the unproven assertion that the Republican mislaid his reelection bid due to the fact that of fraud, stormed the Capitol gathering to halt Congress from certifying past President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Five radical died.

That moment, successful galore ways, was a climactic flashpoint aft what was possibly the astir turbulent twelvemonth successful America since 2001.

Demonstrators breached information and entered the Capitol arsenic Congress debated the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

But it was the country’s nonaccomplishment to coalesce amid different nationalist calamity – albeit 1 wholly antithetic from 9/11 — that revealed and perchance enhanced the cultural, ideological and governmental schisms that person metastasized implicit the past 20 years.

“The biggest takeaway astir U.S. nationalist sentiment successful the archetypal twelvemonth of the coronavirus outbreak,”  the Pew Research Center wrote successful a review of the pandemic it published successful March, “may beryllium the grade to which the decidedly nonpartisan microorganism met with an progressively partisan response.

“Democrats and Republicans disagreed implicit everything from eating retired successful restaurants to reopening schools,” it added, “even arsenic the existent interaction of the pandemic fell on antithetic responsibility lines, including contention and ethnicity, income, property and household structure.”

The reply to wherefore the state has go truthful divided, according to experts and assorted data, is complex. But it includes, experts say, failed leadership, the pernicious emergence of societal media that amplifies the voices of discord that person ever existed – and, perhaps, the pandemic itself.

American tragedies

The nationalist responses to 9/11 and the coronavirus pandemic person a fewer instructive parallels.

Initially, for example, Americans mostly came unneurotic to repel a communal enemy.

Support for archetypal responders swelled during each crisis.

The now-infamous Patriot Act had wide bipartisan support. Early past year, astir Americans supported authorities and section efforts to curb the pandemic’s spread, according to the Pew Research Center.

President George W. Bush’s support standing peaked astatine 90% connected Sept. 21 and 22, 2001, according to the nonpartisan polling steadfast Gallup.

Trump’s support standing topped retired astatine 49% during a Gallup canvass from May 1 to 13, 2020.

But immoderate solidarity existed aboriginal connected during these crises was — arsenic Brian Levin, manager of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism astatine Cal State San Bernardino, described it precocious – a “sandcastle of unity”: porous and short-lived.

As the policies meant to respond to some crystallized, nationalist sentiment grew divided.

Bush’s support standing steadily declined done the remainder of his 2 terms, bottoming retired astatine astir 25% a period earlier the 2008 election.

Post-9/11 counterterrorism policies are not wholly to blasted for that: The Great Recession deed successful Bush’s last twelvemonth and the Democratic Party hammered the lame duck person during the election.

Likewise, Trump had to face a nationwide question of protests against constabulary misconduct and systemic racism, the onset of a surge astatine the Southern borderline due to the fact that of unit successful Central America, the economical consequences of the pandemic — and a contentious election.

His support standing fell to 34%.

But attitudes astir some post-9/11 counterterrorism and the pandemic became divided on partisan lines, according to Pew.

The sandcastle of unity was besides susceptible to extremism.

Hate crimes against Muslim Americans and those of Middle Eastern descent spiked successful the aftermath of 9/11, according to the FBI.

Hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities besides accrued successful 2020 amid the pandemic, which began successful China.

“During periods of nationalist stress,” Levin said, “people volition effort to find scapegoats.”

Indeed, that’s thing new.

Each spike successful hatred crimes, Levin said, stems from assorted catalytic events.

Overall, determination were more than 7,700 hatred crimes reported to the FBI successful 2020 for its yearly work of specified statistics, which the bureau released successful precocious August.

That was the astir the FBI had reported since 2008, though it’s apt adjacent worse than that.

The FBI’s reports are notoriously inaccurate, Levin said. The FBI, for its part, acknowledges that its information is often incomplete.

New Jersey’s lawyer general, for example, announced earlier this twelvemonth that the Garden State had more than 1,440 hatred crimes successful 2020 – its highest fig ever. Yet, the FBI’s 2020 study showed 389.

And the FBI’s information webpage says method issues with Ohio’s statistic led to a partial number for that authorities – with 34 reported to the national agency. In 2019, the Buckeye State reported much than 300 hatred crimes.

Given that, Levin said, 2020 apt had the astir hatred crimes wide since 2001 – erstwhile determination were 9,730 hatred crimes reported.

“We’re ever going to person to woody with this,” said Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, who has served successful Congress since 1993. “It’s ne'er going to beryllium perfect. But we person to punctual the American radical what we basal for arsenic Americans.”

That responsibility, she and others said, falls mostly connected the nation’s leaders.

And that is simply a cardinal quality betwixt 9/11 and the pandemic.

Leadership during crises

“Islam is peace.”

Bush uttered those words connected Sept. 17, 2001, astatine the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C.

President Bush delivers a connection arsenic helium stands with Muslim spiritual leaders during a sojourn to the Islamic Center of Washington, Monday, Sept. 16, 2001, to effort to enactment an extremity to rising anti-Muslim sentiment successful the aftermath of past week’s violent attacks. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)

In 2001, Muslims represented 26% of each religion-based hatred transgression victims, according to the FBI — an summation from 2% the twelvemonth before.

But astir of those 554 radical were subjected to hatred crimes successful the six days aft 9/11 and earlier Bush’s speech, Levin said.

Levin, Roybal-Allard and others lauded Bush for lasting by the Muslim American community, saying it helped forestall an adjacent greater fig of hatred crimes.

Leadership, they said, is cardinal to unifying nationalist sentiment and reassuring Americans during turbulent times.

The Bush-era policies successful the War connected Terror are unfastened to criticism, but the messaging successful the aboriginal days helped soothe a frightened nation, said Steve Jensen, an exigency absorption prof astatine Cal State Long Beach.

“It’s each astir however the nationalist responds,” Jensen, who was a Long Beach firefighter connected 9/11, said successful a caller interview. “(The Bush administration) was perfectly superb erstwhile it came to nationalist sentiment.”

The nationalist messaging connected the coronavirus pandemic, however, was often muddled.

Officials often contradicted each different and didn’t intelligibly explicate wherefore the wellness guidance perpetually changed.

And Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus.

“It was a nonaccomplishment successful enactment astir however terrible COVID-19 could be,” Jensen said. “It didn’t request to hap connected this scale.”

And past determination was Trump perchance fueling anti-Asian hatred by clip and again utilizing the word “ChinaVirus” to notation to COVID-19.

He archetypal utilized that word successful a March 2020 tweet.

The FBI’s 2020 hatred transgression study showed a 70% summation successful anti-Asian hatred crimes compared to the erstwhile year.

The grassroots enactment Stop AAPI Hate, meanwhile, cataloged 9,081 hatred crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander assemblage from March 19, 2020, to June 30 this year.

The archetypal spike came soon aft the pandemic began and Trump enactment retired his tweet, Levin said.

“Last year, we saw contention utilized arsenic a cudgel astir the pandemic and societal justice,” Levin said. “When you person mainstream invective, it reverberates onto the streets.”

Politicians connected some sides of the aisle progressively echo the views of their base, creating a feedback loop that legitimizes utmost views.

“Hatred has been normalized,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and manager of the Anti-Defamation League, told the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during a proceeding connected home coercion successful aboriginal August. “Bigotry begets much bigotry. Hate leads to much hate.”

Calvert, who voted for Trump doubly but besides advocates for the vaccines’ usage and has repeatedly decried the insurrection connected Jan. 6, demurred erstwhile asked astir Trump’s culpability successful America’s divisions.

But helium did blasted rhetoric that incites alternatively than unites.

“I effort not to usage connection I’ll regret,” helium said. “That doesn’t lick anything. You’ve got to beryllium capable to speech to each other.”

That, however, is becoming progressively hard – due to the fact that of media silos.

Social media vitriol

After 9/11, conspiracy theories rapidly sprung up – mostly astir the attacks being an wrong job.

But those easy debunked theories mostly stayed connected the fringes of a still-nascent internet, oregon successful the basement clubhouses of authorities skeptics. As did utmost ideologies.

Twitter didn’t exist. YouTube didn’t either. Or Facebook.

Even MySpace, present a relic of the internet, wasn’t founded until 2003.

Conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies person present gone viral.

“The emergence of societal media has exacerbated the problem,” Jensen said. “We person profoundly entrenched positions.”

That’s not a caller oregon peculiarly insightful complaint, of course.

The leaders of Facebook and Twitter person testified earlier Congress astir the dispersed of misinformation connected their sites. The Pew Research Center wrote astir “ideological silos” connected societal media and cablegram quality networks back successful 2014.

But the assorted echo chambers successful which Americans dwell look to beryllium worsening.

“Republicans and Democrats spot their spot successful 2 astir inverse quality media environments,” Pew researchers wrote successful January 2020. “Evidence suggests that partisan polarization successful the usage and spot of media sources has widened successful the past 5 years.”

The result, then, is that Americans are progressively apt to lone spot accusation that corresponds with their already acceptable worldviews.

That’s borne retired by views connected the pandemic.

“On galore subjects related to the coronavirus,” Pew said successful March, “public attitudes differed not lone by governmental party, but wrong each party, depending connected wherever radical turned for quality and information.”

It’s besides rather imaginable the pandemic, by isolating Americans for overmuch of 2020, has catalyzed divisions.

“The pandemic whitethorn person played a relation successful the mutation of extremism today,” Levin said, “because radical were online importantly more.”

Unifying the country

Not each is lost, however.

There person been immoderate signs that the fever of disunity whitethorn beryllium breaking.

In January, Gallup reported that 12% of people surveyed said nationalist discord was a apical contented – a record.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans, arsenic of October, held antagonistic views of societal media’s interaction connected the country, according to Pew.

And immoderate politicians person condemned oregon apologized for divisive rhetoric.

“I helped to radicalize the Republican Party base,” erstwhile Rep. Joe Walsh, a Republic from Illinois who came to powerfulness amid the Tea Party movement, tweeted connected Monday, Aug. 30. “And for that, I americium profoundly sorry. And I americium dedicating the remainder of my progressive beingness to bash what I tin to deradicalize them.”

Still, there’s a agelong mode to go.

A period earlier the 2020 election, for example, 80% of Americans successful a Pew survey said their differences with those of the opposing governmental enactment “were astir halfway American values,” Michael Dimock, president of the Pew Research Center, wrote successful a March nonfiction astir the country’s divisions.

“Americans,” helium wrote, “have seldom been arsenic polarized arsenic they are today.”

Calvert said he’s hopeful the state tin yet unify again. Royball-Allard said so, too. And Levin. And Jensen.

But the reply connected however to bash that is complex. And, they say, it whitethorn instrumentality a portion to fig out.