Editor's Note: The following piece was originally submitted as a Letter to the Editor, but after reading through it, the Editorial Board decided that the freshness of the perspective deserved a wider hearing. In cooperation with the author, we are now publishing it in the Interact channel. As with all our commentary, the opinions published are solely those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board of Inthefray.com.

This is a hard letter for me to write. Like most Americans, I've been a wreck over the last few weeks. I'm a man of thirty-four years who was always taught that boys don't cry. If you ask anyone who knows me you'll find out that that hasn't always been the case. Still, there was something different about my tears these past few weeks. I think everyone would agree that a lot more than a few buildings fell. We as a county lost an innocence that we enjoyed almost exclusively for so long.

But as unique as this tragedy was, the feeling of loss is one that many of us have experienced before. For decades now, working-class Americans have known terror of the kind that so violently showed its face to Wall Street on September 11, 2001. For us, the process has been many times more gradual. Even so, it has left the same degree of destruction and pain in its passing.

Like in New York, the people who wouldn't think twice about destroying our communities, our families, and our lives remain for the most part faceless. The terrorists responsible for the World Trade Center disaster have been given names: bin Laden, al Qaeda, other groups associated with Middle Eastern fanaticism. We also have a name for those who terrorize our communities--the name is greed, and its safe haven is Wall Street.

Before you stop reading this to look for a rope to hang me, please let me assure you that I am ashamed to harbor these feelings. I love America with all my heart. I am proud of this great nation and if it comes down to defending it, I am willing to give my life for it. I take no pleasure in seeing the pain or hearing the horrible stories of what happened on September 11. It is hard to believe that the terrorists who committed this callous act could be so full of hate that they did not think about taking the lives of so many. When I listen to interviews with survivors of the attacks, I feel their pain and I pray that divine intervention spares them from further suffering.

But I've seen that same look of desperation on the faces of survivors before. I've heard these stories before--the stories of families ripped apart, and lives ruined. And so, amid my sadness, I also feel anger. I just can't get past the feeling that the towers that fell represented the system responsible for so much of the erosion of my community, of my class, of my family.

But there's never been an attack on U.S. soil before, you say. Well, not the same, I agree--but maybe worse, I wonder.

Victim and victimizer

The war at home

A plea to Wall Street

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