Liberty versus Security: Racial Reactions to September 11

By Darren W. Davis

An excerpt from Negative Liberty: Public Opinion and the Terrorist Attacks on America.

Race and ethnicity have rivaled other factors, such as political trust and perceptions of sociotropic threat, in comprehending the effects of the September 11 attacks on individual attitudes. Although American citizens and political institutions appeared to acquiesce to political authorities to make the country safe and secure, they did not share equally in their willingness to concede civil liberties . . . African Americans were much less likely than most other citizens to cave in to their sense of threat and vulnerability. When presented with the security consequences of their initial trade-off decision, blacks rejected them, remaining firmly committed to civil liberties and their personal rights. Because their long struggle for equality and civil rights involved their own experience with aspects of terrorism, and because of their sense of disaffection from the political system, it was reasonable for blacks to be sensitive to the human suffering that the attacks caused, yet, at the same time, guarded against the government’s increasing authority and invasion of individual rights, both domestically and internationally. Whites and Latinos, on the other hand, rejected the antidemocratic consequences of their initial preferences and followed their concern for security . . .

Racial differences in perceptions of the broader political system when it is attacked should . . . be related to normal perceptions of the political system. Previous feelings about political  authorities should not be simply forgotten when the country faces a national crisis; instead, both positive and negative, they should influence how and how much individuals acquiesce. Those deprived of equal political and economic participation in American society are not likely to strongly identify with the political system, and can be expected to have less sympathy toward it than other individuals do. Because political authorities are perceived as having ignored the democratic norms on which their claim to legitimacy rests, politically disaffected and disenfranchised citizens view leaders and institutions as illegitimate. Equally important, they are likely to see duplicity and hypocrisy in government actions and are less likely to respond to appeals to pull together with dominant groups and political authorities. Although the politically disaffected are likely to acquiesce to or remain silent before new measures to promote common defense, these new policies may be considered suspect. Clearly, political disaffection does not necessarily mean rejecting underlying system norms, not complying with governmental policies, or withdrawing support from the political system as a whole. However, resentment and frustration stemming from unjust treatment result in a lack of concern for political authorities who experience some of the negative consequences of their policies. People who think that they have been treated unfairly may be skeptical of political leaders, and of appeals to subordinate their individual or group rights in a crisis. Alienated citizens are also likely to see the same arrogance and imperialism in U.S. foreign policy that people in many other countries perceive. As a result, although politically alienated individuals may not actively undermine the government’s efforts when it is faced with an international crisis and an external enemy, they are likely to experience a sense of relief when the government is attacked and society gets to experience what it is like to walk in their shoes . . .

Following the [September 11 terrorist] attacks, blacks were observed to respond somewhat differently from other groups. Brian Gilmore cites one example:

On the radio in the days after the bombing I heard many black Americans state that they felt bad for the victims, they felt violated, and they felt that America had to do something, but then some would add at the end of their comments statements about not feeling that deep sense of patriotism that most Americans feel. The kind of emotion that pushes you to put your hand over your heart, take your hat off when the National Anthem is played. The “God Bless America” brand of patriotism. They were Americans, but not quite as American as white Americans. They cried for the victims, but not necessarily for America.

Like many American citizens, African Americans grieved, volunteered, rallied to President Bush, and contributed to relief efforts. Because foreign terrorists did not spare blacks, and because race did not appear to be a consideration in targeting airplanes to crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, African Americans could easily imagine themselves as victims of terrorism. That is to say, blacks were not spared the pain of the terrorist attacks, because many perished in them or were directly influenced by them. Attesting to this sense of national identity and support for the victims, black leaders and the black press were quick to offer devotional support for the victims, and supported governmental restraint in responding to the perpetrators. The most notable expression of caution involved Barbara Lee, a U.S. congresswoman from California, who cast the only dissenting vote authorizing presidential use of necessary and appropriate force against anyone involved in the 9/11 attacks.

Underlying such conciliatory and cautionary expressions, however, were African American experiences with aspects of terrorism, and a belief that America was responsible for fostering the hatred that led to the attacks. Previous experiences with government, specifically the extent to which they feel alienated or distrustful of the political system, can be expected to help African Americans make sense of their reactions when the political system is attacked. African Americans’ reactions to the terrorist attacks are integrally connected to their level of disaffection from the American political system. Beginning in early childhood and intensifying through adulthood, African Americana grow up more politically alienated and distrusting than other citizens. The political reality of black Americans—in which they experience hostility and violence from society and the government, are denied access to economic and political power, and are deprived of equal rights and civil liberties—yields a deep sense of resentment. Blacks are likely to perceive political authorities as disingenuous and untrustworthy because of significant discrepancies between the values that the political system espouses and their own status within that system. In times of national crisis, when the government needs citizens’ support and compliance, the African American experience of unfulfilled promises and mistreatments is likely to be held against those in power.

In addition to the 2000 presidential election, which many blacks believed was manipulated to elect George Bush, the Bush administration also boycotted the UN World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa, citing offensive language against Israel and an unwillingness to consider possible reparations for American slavery. Many saw the conference, which took place a week before September 11, and Secretary of State Colin Powell’s probable attendance as a symbolically significant and lost opportunity to begin a dialogue on the influence of racial discrimination, exclusion, and abuse.

If all this is true of African American feelings about the September 11 attacks, the results would echo Myrdal’s observations concerning blacks’ perceptions of World War II:

But it is quite common that Negroes feel a satisfaction in the temporary adversities and want the War to become as serious a matter as possible to the white people in power. There have been reports that poor Negro sharecroppers in the South sometimes indulge in dreams of a Japanese army marching through the South and killing off a number of “crackers.” They do not want them to land in the North, though. And they certainly do not want them to stay. But much more common is a glowing ill-concealed satisfaction over the war adversities on various fronts.

Even though the social and political situation of African Americans has improved since Myrdal, they might have experienced a vicarious sense of satisfaction or retribution from the September 11 attacks. This is not the kind of satisfaction that makes people rejoice. It is instead probably best described as schadenfreude, or pleasure experienced from the pain of others. In this case it is the pain of political authorities and the government . . .

Most significant here is that in the context of the attacks, the influence of race extends beyond support for civil liberties to support for the political system. It appeared that whites supported the political community and authorities, and held fast to democratic principles in the abstract following the attacks. Latinos also supported the political community and political authorities, though they were more likely to see partial U.S. responsibility and more ready to abandon democratic principles in the face of a terrorist threat than whites or blacks were. Blacks supported the political community less than whites and Latinos did, did not support the political authorities, and also were more likely to see the United States as partially responsible for the hatred that led to the attacks. Comments by Vernon Jordan several months after the terrorist attacks seem, as George Curry wrote in The Sacramento Observer, to capture the reaction of many African Americans:

Black Americans hold America’s values dearly. At times, it seemed as if we were the only ones who did. When this nation was in the grip of racism and segregation, it was black people who reminded America of its basic values of freedom and democracy. It was Black Americans who helped America close the gap between its beliefs and its practices. It is a role that’s still being served today. We know that dangerous rhetoric can lead to acts of lunacy that kill innocents. And we know that the surest defense against terrorism is affirmation of America’s basic values, the values we have learned in our churches, the values we have fought and died for in America’s every war, even in segregated armies.

Excerpted from Negative Liberty: Public Opinion and the Terrorist Attacks on America, by Darren W. Davis. Copyright © 2007 Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th Street, New York, NY 10065. Reprinted with permission.