Eric Harmatz's Blog

United 175 about to impact the World Trade Center

This photo shows United Airlines Flight 175 with scheduled service from Boston’s Logan Int’l Airport to Los Angeles Int’l Airport on September 11th, 2001. The aircraft was operated in a Boeing 767, and carried a lot of fuel and 65 passengers. The aircraft crashed into the South Tower shortly passed 9 AM Eastern Daylight Time, killing all onboard and leading to the collapse of the South Tower. 17 minutes earlier, American Airlines Flight 11 (also BOS-LAX) impacted the North Tower. Cameras were rolling for coverage of the North Tower impact, and they were able to catch a video of UA175 impacting the South Tower live on television.

When AA11 hit the North Tower, people suspected that it was a random plane crash. It wasn’t until UA175 hit that Americans realized the severity of the day and that the plane crash was not a random plane crash. It became evident that these were hijackings.

This photo is shocking. It brings back memories to where I was on that fateful day, the USS Constellation on a Tiger Cruise from Hawaii to San Diego. I woke up to CNN being played in my dad’s stateroom. I watched CNN all day and realized the severity of the situation when a total of 4 planes were lost before the FAA and NORAD grounded North American flights.

This picture marks the start of a new era. An era where America is at war with terrorism. The airline industry has been negativly affected due to this day. Many airlines have filled either Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankrupcy protection due to the unstability of the industry after 9/11 and due to the unpredicted rise of oil prices that followed.

The above photo that I chose to reflect on is titled “Segregated Water Fountains”. This photo is shocking as it shows how segregation was legal in the 20th century provided it was “equal” to both parties. As you can see from the photo, the “Colored” fountain looks like a subpar urinal compared to the “White” fountain, that looks l uxorious for that time period. How can one even say that those two are equal?

Both water fountains draw their water from the same valve, so the water would be the same for both fountains. The only thing that is segregated is the little nozzle that the water comes out of: one for whites and one for blacks.

In my opinion, this photo shows ignorance as I find it hard to understand why people would go to measures to segregate water fountains based on someone’s color.  I also find it hard to understand how they can pass off those distinctly different water fountains as equal when obviously the only thing they have “equal” is the water valve that both the fountains draw their water from.

I ask myself, why? Why did people segregate based on skin color. Did they think that black people were diseased? The way our society is in the 21st century I could not even imagine this happening. We have so many laws in place regarding discrimination and racial profiling that in our era public segregation is nonexistent.

Looking at the young man in this picture, he doesn’t look sad or mad. He looks like he is just taking a sip of water out of his fountain without thinking twice. He didn’t know any different. The man in this picture doesn’t show any emotion that he knows how wrong this actually is. He doesn’t know…

The white water fountain in the picture reminds me of an old water fountain that might be found around NTC back in the day during it’s use as a Naval Training Center. I can hear the valves of the water fountain humming when the lever is pulled. I can taste the hard water that comes out of the fountain. Even though it tastes horrible, it is gold to those who thirst.