People of color are sharing powerful stories of discrimination on the #afterseptember11 hashtag

#afterseptember11 is a hashtag which, in less than 24 hours, has been populated with stories of discrimination, profiling, and actions people took to escape being seen as an enemy following the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.

A young woman in Chicago, Jess Talwar, started it yesterday after posting a story about what her father did to avoid profiling after the attacks.

A handful of other people began to post stories of discrimination they’d faced and fears they’ve had to deal with post-9/11.

https://twitter.com/jehanster/status/642098233230106624

Of friends lost because they weren’t allowed to spend time together…

And consequences not just in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but in the years later…

A lot of the stories involve having to adapt and abandon customs for fear of being attacked or profiled.

https://twitter.com/iranikanjari/status/642103207951405056

Many tweets come from teenagers who’ve been dealing with the consequences of the 9/11 attacks for most, or all of their lives.

#afterseptember11 my mom was called “bin laden’s mom” on the street and God knows what else she has to endure she’s not telling me.

— Ibrahim (@Brahim_San) September 11, 2015

Imagine being 9 and wondering why your teacher decided to call on you and ask you why your faith advocates for bombings #afterseptember11

— halima (@halimahello) September 11, 2015

And some are stories of people who were actually attacked or killed.

https://twitter.com/iranikanjari/status/642103389552185344

In the 17 hours since Talwar first tweeted with the hashtag, more than 46,000 tweets that include it have been posted. Some are attempts to derail the conversation, or the spam that bleeds into any popular twitter hashtag, but it’s largely an outpouring of experience and encouragement to read and share the stories being tweeted.

For her part, Talwar tweeted her appreciation that people are sharing.

Check out more of the #afterseptember11 tweets below.

Related Coverage: Chicago Sikh man brutally attacked and called ‘Bin Laden’ in potential hate crime

Ethan Chiel is a reporter for Fusion, writing mostly about the internet and technology. You can (and should) email him at [email protected]