A Young People's History of the United States

The early 2000s were a tumultuous time in US history that nonetheless reflected old patterns of government, patriotism, and civilian behavior. George W. Bush won a contested presidential election in 2000 aided by political favors from other Republicans—an election that one Supreme Court justice said revealed a breach in the rule of law and ruined the confidence that Americans might have had in an impartial election system (394).

Shortly into this presidency, terrorists from outside the US orchestrated the attacks on the US, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, of September 11, 2001. The US became a wartime nation once more, although this time the government articulated the enemy as the nebulous category “terrorism”—a category that included but went well beyond the group responsible for the attacks (the group Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden). Aided by the media, grief and fear in the wake of the attack generated enormous nationalistic patriotism, which criminalized (and conflated) all Muslims and Arabs and called for “revenge” (397). Hate crimes against people of Middle Eastern descent skyrocketed.

Many voices still called for peace and implored the government to work toward enduring solutions by more honestly examining American history.