Very few Americans could have been unaware of the commemorative events and media blitz that surrounded the 10th anniversary of terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001. The attention given to the tragedy most likely reminded anyone who recalled the event how it forever changed the way we travel, the way we live and freedoms once taken for granted.

It was once inconceivable that a terrorist attack could have happened on American soil. In fact, for many Americans, young and old, the 9/11 attacks were a harsh lesson on terrorism. Some who had heard of terrorist acts before related these to other countries, and some had even forgotten, or were unaware that the same terrorists, al Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden, that attacked the country in 2001 had launched an attack at the ill-fated World Trade Center in 1993.

While the tragic details of 9/11 were repeatedly revisited over the past weekend, one key aspect that followed those attacks did not receive the focus it should have. In the wake of the attacks, but for too brief a period, Americans were united. In those surrealistic days people sought to comfort and assure each other. There was a profound sense of community, and for months people were proud to bear the stars and stripes on their vehicles, in their offices and homes and on buildings across the nation.

There is something about man-made and natural disasters that tend to bring out that repressed community-caring feeling among humans. Too bad it often takes disasters to do this.

But like other tragedies, as time passed Americans lost the community, even the patriotic spirit, as they became immersed in their individual concerns. Moreover, pressing national issues (particularly the impact of political and economic challenges), acted as serious divisive forces, that at the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks have segmented the country into a variety of social and political groups aggressively competing against each other.

Although bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists forever changed several aspects of the way of life in America, they were not and are not responsible for the divisive fissures that characterizes the nation.

How many people recognized the irony seen last weekend, as former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and incumbent President Barack Obama, and leaders of all areas of society appeared on the national stage exuding the image of unity, when it is well known that serious divisions lie below the surface. This camouflage of unity would appear for one Sunday, only to disappear in the days following, as leaders and their followers resort to divisive efforts to find solutions to national problems.

It is unfortunate that as most Americans focused on the tragedies of 9/11, there was not enough done to build on the unity seen in its aftermath. The nation's leaders missed the opportunity to sufficiently send a message of unity and strong patriotism.

However, the evidence of immediate post 9/11 unity was not lost on the leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people. The NAACP president Benjamin Jealous in a joint message on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, stated, "But something else significant happened that day. As the smoke cleared and the dust began to settle, our country came together in a remarkable way. The magnitude of what we faced allowed us to put our personal differences — race, class, culture and faith — into context and stand together for common values: Freedom. Justice. Love.... Ten years have passed since that fateful day. Life has returned to a new normal for our country and, mercifully, we have gone back to our daily lives. But we are different now, changed. Our September 11th experience allowed us to see and feel a higher unity, however briefly. This is the lesson we must never forget."

If ever this nation needs some semblance of unification, it is now. The economic and social problems that currently besiege the once invincible image of America are being made worse by the stark divisions that now exist. These divisions are inherent, not created by external terrorists trying to destabilize the normal flow of the nation's life. Interestingly and sadly, it is Americans.

While it is vital that all Americans remain vigilant against terrorism in general, it is equally important to also remain vigilant to protect the nation from domestic forces that seek to destabilize, weaken and destroy it.