--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After 9/11, I had just become an American…" description: "\"After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/pramila-jayapal-5245_american_after-9-11-i-had-just-become-an-american_1314148.jpg" --- # After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I… ![“After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember thinking to myself, 'Nothing is ever going to be the same in this country for people who look like me.'” quote by Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/pramila-jayapal-5245_american_after-9-11-i-had-just-become-an-american_1314148.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/pramila-jayapal-5245_american_after-9-11-i-had-just-become-an-american_1314148.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e08/pramila-jayapal-5245_american_after-9-11-i-had-just-become-an-american_1314148.jpg) > “After 9/11, I had just become an American citizen, and I remember sitting in front of my TV set watching the news of the attacks, in tears. I remember thinking to myself, 'Nothing is ever going to be the same in this country for people who look like me.'” [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A new citizen felt fear and alienation after seeing the attacks, realizing life would change for people who look like her. **In simple terms:** She felt fear and changed outlook after 9/11. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address fear in marginalized communities. Themes identity fear belonging trauma Mood somber reflective Type personal political When to use this quote - community support groups - counseling - policy advocacy Key Concepts cultural shock immigration racial bias Questions to Reflect On - How can societies support newly naturalized citizens after trauma? - What resources help process such fear? A Different Perspective Counterpoint: Not all experiences are identical; some may feel solidarity instead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-citizen/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [I'm just an American citizen like everyone else and I'm not sitting at the power table in the room where it all happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hasan-minhaj/i-m-just-an-american-citizen-like-everyone-else-and-i-m-not-sitting/) [Hasan Minhaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hasan-minhaj/) > [Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote...that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/let-each-citizen-remember-at-the-moment-he-is-offering-his-vote-that/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [I can tell by your tears... you will remember it all!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-tell-by-your-tears-you-will-remember-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every time I cry about missing you, I still smile through those tears...because I remember every thing you told me..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-i-cry-about-missing-you-i-still-smile-through-those-tears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can tell by your tears that you will remember it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-can-tell-by-your-tears-that-you-will-remember-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Mackenzie, this world is full of tears, but if you remember I proimsed that it would be Me who would wipe them from your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/mackenzie-this-world-is-full-of-tears-but-if-you-remember-i-proimsed/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [When you reach for the stars, you lose blood and tears. That's something you should remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/when-you-reach-for-the-stars-you-lose-blood-and-tears-that-s/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Sing Me no songs tell me no tales cry me no tears, but remember me kindly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-steel/sing-me-no-songs-tell-me-no-tales-cry-me-no-tears-but-remember-me/) [Danielle Steel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-steel/) > [“Women, music, beer, and pie. Rurik, you're just an all-American guy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-howard/women-music-beer-and-pie-rurik-you-re-just-an-all-american-guy/) [Linda Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-howard/) > [“Well, we're just All-American queers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/well-we-re-just-all-american-queers/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [I want my kids to know that they're just as good and just as American as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or Dr. Martin Luther…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafe-esquith/i-want-my-kids-to-know-that-they-re-just-as-good-and-just-as-american/) [Rafe Esquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafe-esquith/) > [We as Americans of Latin descent are just as American as anyone else of any other descent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/we-as-americans-of-latin-descent-are-just-as-american-as-anyone-else/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [Think about just how much we'd get accomplished if we collectively viewed the people with whom we came into contact as just an American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-lemon/think-about-just-how-much-we-d-get-accomplished-if-we-collectively/) [Don Lemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-lemon/) > [I'm just an American dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-mayweather-jr/i-m-just-an-american-dream/) [Floyd Mayweather, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-mayweather-jr/) > [In America, you're just an American. You're accepted. It doesn't matter that you're of whatever race. If anything, I'm British, and that's it. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-wong/in-america-you-re-just-an-american-you-re-accepted-it-doesn-t-matter/) [Benedict Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-wong/) ## More by Pramila Jayapal > [The fact that the immigration issue was the first thing Trump took aim at was a good thing for me, because it's what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/the-fact-that-the-immigration-issue-was-the-first-thing-trump-took/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [Some people have called me the anti-Trump, and I'm so proud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/some-people-have-called-me-the-anti-trump-and-i-m-so-proud/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [We don't get a more responsive government unless we start to systematically run organizing campaigns to change the way government works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/we-don-t-get-a-more-responsive-government-unless-we-start-to/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [I would attend a State of the Union by a president with whom I disagree if I felt she or he was otherwise respectful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/i-would-attend-a-state-of-the-union-by-a-president-with-whom-i/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [I've always believed that immigration is really about who we are as a country and what we're willing to stand up for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/i-ve-always-believed-that-immigration-is-really-about-who-we-are-as-a/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [Individuals whose asylum claims have been accepted have gone on to become professors, soldiers in our military, artists, and more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/individuals-whose-asylum-claims-have-been-accepted-have-gone-on-to/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [I feel like young people, more than anyone in the country, always have their moral compass on perfectly straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/i-feel-like-young-people-more-than-anyone-in-the-country-always-have/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [Trump has hated Amazon for a long time, and I think that that came out in many interviews that he's done with 'Vanity Fair'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/trump-has-hated-amazon-for-a-long-time-and-i-think-that-that-came-out/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [I am on the side of the working person across the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/i-am-on-the-side-of-the-working-person-across-the-country/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [It took me 17 years to become a U.S. citizen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/it-took-me-17-years-to-become-a-u-s-citizen/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [When I was a little girl, my dad always said to me that I was going to be this great businesswoman, that I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/when-i-was-a-little-girl-my-dad-always-said-to-me-that-i-was-going-to/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [When women are told that sexual harassment is 'part of the job' or when assistants of both sexes enable harassing behavior, they have bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pramila-jayapal/when-women-are-told-that-sexual-harassment-is-part-of-the-job-or-when/) [Pramila Jayapal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pramila-jayapal/) > [I'm not a complainer. I'm a doer. 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The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [New York and San Francisco are distinctly different. San Francisco is driving the American media, not New York. You have young, microwaved millionaires and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-whitlock/new-york-and-san-francisco-are-distinctly-different-san-francisco-is/) [Jason Whitlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-whitlock/) > [Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. 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