If there is a silver lining to the awful events of September 11, it may be found in the way Americans have responded. Across the United States, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, have refreshed a spirit of community and appreciation for the democratic ties that bind a multiethnic, multiracial, multireligious nation of 280 million. There have been some ugly exceptions, including threats against Arab Americans and Muslims, but such incidents have been relatively rare. For the most part, tolerance, generosity, and unity have prevailed.

Interestingly, the U.S. institutions best prepared to deal with the shock of September 11 may have been K-12 schools. Following a rash of deadly school shootings, many schools already had crisis-intervention plans in place to comfort and counsel fearful students in case of another Columbine. At the same time, the spread of anti-bullying programs and multicultural curricula in the 1990s laid important groundwork for teaching tolerance and discouraging the stereotyping of Arab and Muslim children.

Schools have also led the way in a national resurgence of patriotic expression. The national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance are back in places like New York City, where they long ago had fallen out of favor. On October 12, school kids from Hawaii to Maine recited the Pledge in unison, led by U.S. Education Secretary Roderick Paige. Across the country, children have been drawing the Stars and Stripes, discussing America's global role with renewed appreciation (and some apprehension), and writing letters of encouragement to firefighters, police, and other civil servants.