The PANY Bulletin

Psychoanalytic Association of New York
Volume 39, Number 3 Fall 2001

Sustaining the Moral Surge
by John Sexton, President-elect of New York University

These comments from John were sent by email to the faculty at large within days of the terrorist assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

As the World Trade Center collapsed, New York, the world's city, and the world itself stood at a moral tipping point.

The architects of history's greatest act of terrorism picked their instruments and their targets with precision to send a message that would instantly reach everyone everywhere in a succession of horrific images. Modern communication conveyed the assault on modern civilization. When the terrorists drove two airliners into the Twin Towers, they sought to meld in a single act the reality of devastation with the symbolic defeat of a notion of humankind which they abhor.

New York is a city that lives a vision of progress and inclusion. As they died and took thousands of others to their deaths, the terrorists presumed they had shattered that vision. But unwittingly, they unleashed a moral power surge throughout the city and the world which affirmed the best of the human spirit, a force equally real and potentially far more powerful than their terrorism. Now, two weeks into this transformative time, we face a decisive challenge?to sustain the moral surge within us even as we recover from this immoral onslaught.

I saw the moral surge happening as our students and neighbors gathered for a vigil in Washington Square Park. One first year law student from rural Georgia told how terrified he was that Tuesday morning, asking himself: "Why am I here?" "Now," he said, as he stood in front of the Arch: "I have seen New York, my classmates, my community. How could I be anywhere else?"

Amid the outpouring of spirit in the days that followed, we were all rescue workers, saving and affirming our humanity. Tens of thousands of citizens contributed their food, their money, their sweat and their blood. Volunteers in record numbers were frustrated by their inability to do more. We all saw clearly the commitment of our police and fire fighters, and we came to view them differently than we ever had before. Led by Mayor Giuliani, the whole city operated at this level. We reached out, we comforted, we united.

But the moral surge can fade, just as the good feeling during the blackouts of the past faded as the lights came back on. Morally, we cannot allow New York to be less than it was before the terror. Now it has to be even better, and all of us, as individuals and institutions, have to make it so.

Lower Manhattan will be rebuilt. But as hard and costly as that will be, we have institutions to lead in physical and economic restoration, and new ones will emerge. In the end rebuilding structures is not enough; we have to build on the new spirit of New York as a permanent affirmation of what the terrorists were really trying to destroy our values and our moral vision.

Each of us has a part to play. Universities, like ours, can and will provide scholarships for the children of the victims. We can and will create a chronicle of this singular moment to capture and sustain what is best in it. We can and will send teams of faculty and students across the country to talk in high schools and local communities, sharing what they saw and felt and striving to convert the spirit of the moment into the spirit of our time.

But I also believe that whatever any of us does separately, all of us have to ask what we can do together to sustain and expand this remarkable moral surge. We are at a moral crossroads, and universities have a historic role in conveying the ideas that matter and advancing the creation of our future. As a first step, we at NYU will convene a summit of cultural, financial, religious and educational leaders from across the city. The purpose will be to shape an agenda that will present New York as a symbol and a reality which overcomes the destruction and the hatred. Just as we may have a world wide architectural competition to rebuild Ground Zero, so we must attend to the moral architecture which the people of New York have been building since the attack.

We are the world's first city, not just America's. Today, everyone among us, from every race or faith or nation, is equally a New Yorker: We put our faith in tolerance, not, as the terrorists do, in conformity. That is what has made us great in every dimension of civic success, that is what the murderers tried to kill, and that is what we must now restate and celebrate even more boldly than before.

In 1975, when the city faced bankruptcy and decline, civic leaders like Lew Rudin formed the Association for a Better New York. Now, in this very different, deeper crisis, we need to gather together to forge a moral agenda as well as a practical one. We must organize as a community on a continuing basis to send our own message to the world not just today, but in the months and years ahead.

And the world is ready to hear from us, to unite with us, to affirm shared ideals. A French newspaper proclaims: "We are all New Yorkers." The Mayor of Rome offers to withdraw that city's bid for the 2012 Olympics in favor of New York, so the Games can open in sight of the Statue of Liberty as a global affirmation of solidarity and renewal.

Societies live by stories. After the horror, we must tell our story in the right way--to ourselves and to a watching world. A summit where we band together can be the beginning of a continuing association for the best New York. We've seen it; let's nurture it. New York can and must be the world's "shining city on a hill."