Everywhere we look today, we see signs and images reminding us of the tragic events of 9/11/2001. The slogan “Never Forget” has become the symbolic mantra associated with that horrible day. We see the words “Never Forget” … But what do they really mean? What is it we should “Never Forget?”

Should we Never Forget the events of 9/11/2001, or the people who lost their lives that day? Should we Never Forget the heroes that responded to 9/11 and the many who perished when the buildings fell.  Should we Never Forget the Twin Towers, American Airlines Flights 11 and 77, United Airlines Flight 175, or the Pentagon? Should we Never Forget that we were attacked by al Queda or Osama Bin Laden? Should we Never Forget where we were or how we felt when we watched the news and felt helplessly sad and defeated?

Should we Never Forget the days following 9/11? Days of amazing patriotism where everyone flew an American flag and stood together in solidarity; Days where differences in race, color and religion seemed to fade away.  For a short period of time following 9/11, we were all American and we were all in this together.

I used to think that is what “Never Forget” meant, but today, I look at it differently. I see the phrase in a way that might upset people.

I ask that we Never Forget what life was like before 9/11.

I ask that we Never Forget there was a time when we did not live in fear. A time before SWAT Teams freely roamed the streets of New York City. A time before the TSA. A time before armed military in the subways,  Penn Station, and Grand Central Terminal. A time before the NSA spied on just about everybody and everything. A time before the Patriot Act and the Protect America Act. A time before the president had the authority to suspend habeaus corpus. A time before water boarding and the horrors of Guantanamo Bay.

I ask that we Never Forget that our country was once free and prosperous. A time before fear controlled us. A time where the NYPD enforced quality of life crimes and did community policing. A time when racial profiling was frowned upon and not official policy.

I ask that we Never Forget there was a time when the world respected us. A time before we invaded Iraq. A time when our military budgets were much smaller and our international aid much larger. A time where we valued education and public service. A time where we respected (most) politicians. A time before hate. A time before the Tea party. A time before OWS, massive debt, bailouts and TARP.

We should Never Forget the lives lost and the damage done on 9/11/2001. But more importantly, we should Never Forget who we were, as a nation, when we went to sleep on 9/10/2001.

We should Never Forget that a terrorist’s mission (by definition) is to force political or social change by fear. We should Never Forget that the terrorists accomplished this and therefore won on 9/11.