A week to the day before 9/11
we were sitting on the open top deck
of a Lower Manhattan tour bus.
We passed many places to conjure with,
like the New York Criminal Court with its
classical portico supported by
nine Corinthian columns. On its steps
the last scene of TWELVE ANGRY MEN was filmed,
Sidney Lumet’s unmatched movie about
bigotry, justice, and being human.
But, because of the so-called War on Terror,
the most vivid memory of that tour
is the bronze globe turning in the fountain
in the World Trade Centre’s busy plaza.
We were staying with a friend on Long Island –
in Jamaica Estates, Queens. In those days
we got our news from The Guardian, which
was not available in the local
Key Food Store! – so we missed news about
the first World Conference Against Racism
then being held in Durban, South Africa.
Inevitably the Global North
and the Global South fell out about
agenda items regarding reparations
for Atlantic Slavery and whether
Zionism is a racist concept.
9/11 sidelined the outrage, that
act of terror which was used to fortify
the dominion of the North. To be human,
it seems, is to choose: be selfish or just.
By David Selzer