By Austin Perry
Copyright outkick
Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. If you were alive during that time, you remember exactly where you were and what you were feeling on that fateful day. You may also remember how everyone felt the day after, on September 12. America was as united as it had been for a very long time and, quite frankly, as united as it has been since. We were hurting as a nation, but as we licked our wounds and set our bones, we banded together. Black, white, hispanic, liberal, conservative, it didn’t matter. Everyone was an American on September 12. In the direct aftermath of the horrific murder of conservative thought leader Charlie Kirk in Utah on Wednesday, America needs that 9/12 energy more than ever. The world, and our country in particular, is becoming increasingly more divided and polarized. We’ve reached a point where people would rather kill someone they disagree with than debate them, and that kind of hatred is not sustainable. In today’s day and age of social media, it’s so easy to say hateful things towards someone you view as different or beneath you. And those disagreements on social media can and have ended up spilling over into the real world. I know I’m not alone in calling for a little more unity; it’s not exactly a hot take to say we need to come together as a country now more than ever. Outkick’s very own Ricky Cobb had a great conversation with NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson about how football, of all things, helped heal a nation in mourning 24 years ago. Sports have often been seen as the great unifier in our country. I am friends with people from all different demographic backgrounds, people from all sides of the political aisle, because of sports. With things looking as bleak and fractured as they are today, maybe we can use sports to continue to heal as a nation. Regardless of where it comes from, America needs to find some 9/12 energy, and fast. I have faith in the people of this great nation, and I’ve already seen a vast majority of people from both ends of the political spectrum meet in the middle to recognize each other’s humanity in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. I just hope and pray it isn’t too late.
