The text from a friend in New York came in at 11:25 a.m. on July 16. “Did you hear about the shooting in Chattanooga? It’s at a naval facility. It’s still happening. Thought you’d want to check in with your mom.”
I was at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street in New Orleans attending Tales of the Cocktail. The crowd was lively as you would expect at a massive cocktail conference. I read the text and felt strangely disoriented. I stepped into a small courtyard to make a phone call to my mother and check breaking news in Chattanooga.
A gun man was shooting military personnel and police offers in Chattanooga. There was a no-fly zone over the airport. National news was reporting a possible “act of domestic terrorism?” How could this be happening in Chattanooga? Not in my home town. Not in my backyard.
I hear soldiers have been killed at a naval facility and military recruitment area off Amnicola Highway by a lone gun man, also killed. I pray the gun man is not a deranged soldier shooting unfriendly fire, that he’s not a white man killing black men or a black man killing white men, that he’s not a Muslim radical killing U.S. military men. I don’t want to see either domestic terrorism or horrific hate crimes anywhere and especially not in Chattanooga. Not in my home town. Not in my backyard.
My mind wanders to Chattanooga National Cemetery a short drive from the scene of the shootings where graves of fallen soldiers lay with veterans from several wars. It’s a beautiful and peaceful area where I go to visit my father. I envision his grave stone emblazoned with the words “Duty Honor Country” shaking at the news of the killings, first in anger and disbelief and then with tears of sorrow. The grave cries out, “Not another killing of soldiers in a peaceful setting. Not in Chattanooga where old battlefields lie dormant. Not in the town I called home for more than 50 years. Not in my backyard!”
I read the shooter is Muslim. He attended University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where my mother also teaches. I never even knew Chattanooga had a sizable Muslim community. But why wouldn’t it? The city has changed since my youth. It’s grown and become progressive, setting an example for other revitalized boom towns. It’s now “Gig City,” the “Most Livable City,” “The Best Outdoors City,” “The Best Place To Retire.” People of many backgrounds now quietly live side by side in a City of Opportunity. And now as of July 16, it’s another town scorched in the summer heat by what has been referred to “An Act of Domestic Terrorism.” This can’t be Chattanooga. Not my hometown. Not in my backyard.
I lived in New York City when the September 11, 2001, attacks occurred. I felt the shock of watching the World Trade Center towers fall, the anguish of the people searching for news of loved ones and the disoriented feeling that settled over me and my city in the days…and months…that followed. How could this happen in our backyard? I moved out of New York City in 2014 to a small town in the country where I feel safe, where I believe terrorists wouldn’t attack and armed guards don’t patrol the streets. I always believe that town might as well be Chattanooga, a place I always felt safe. An “act of domestic terrorism?” Not in Chattanooga. Not in my hometown. Not in my backyard.
I read the statement from the shooter’s family, “There are no words to describe our shock, horror and grief. The person who committed this horrible crime was not the son we knew and loved.” They’ve lived in the Chattanooga community for over 25 years where they probably felt safe and welcome. I read the comments from some readers in response to the statement. There is such anger and animosity. “Your response is too little too late.” Send them all back to their country!” “Get out!” “We don’t want your type here, not in our backyard!” These expressions of hatred can’t be happening in Chattanooga. Not my hometown. Not in my backyard.
People call this “homegrown terrorism.” I don’t get any of this. “Homegrown and local” in my world are supposed to be positive: “Homegrown” vegetables and fruits are good. We support local businesses and local farmers. Homegrown and local are supposed to mean good things to create positive change and nurture goodness, not “homegrown terrorism.”
You don’t think about “homegrown terrorism” sprouting in small towns and cities like Chattanooga, Charleston or Oklahoma City. It’s already too much to bear in Boston and New York. But I guess bad seeds can be planted in any backyard. We need to learn to weed out the hate and build fences to mend and be stronger not create barriers of fear and animosity. We hope this will not happen again, but sadly we know it will in someone’s hometown. Hopefully not again in my backyard.
I want to thank those of you who reached out. Even though I reside in New York, Chattanooga will always be my hometown.
