I am a man.

    I am a woman.

My ancestors fought for their freedom.

    My ancestors fought for their freedom and rights.

My children were never bullied at school.

    My children were always bullied at school.

I am a man who saw my kids grow up and go to college.

    I am a woman who saw my kids grow up and not go to college.

But then,

    And then,

One day,

    One day,

There were planes overhead.

    There were planes overhead.

There was a big boom.

    There was a big crash.

And then, there was smoke and screams.

    And then, there were screams.

There was a second boom shortly after.

    There was another boom.

Debris was all over the streets.

    Debris layed on the streets.

Panic broke out, people ran for cover.

    People stood still in fear of what just happened.

The sound of sirens and screams littered the city.

    Sirens were running around to the disaster.

Nearby people tried to clearing the debris that covered the streets.

    I tried to help clear the debris with others.

Faint words floated around saying “They hit the Pentagon.”

    A cop told the crowd “another hit the Pentagon.”

People stood in shock and hid in fear.

    People hurried to clear the rubble for emergency teams.

The president announced to the public, “We are at war!.”

    I think we are in a war.

This reflection was written about the attack that happened on September 11th , 2001. It was shown through the eyes of a middle class white american man and a low middle class African American woman.