January 30, 2007...6:53 pm
Race Relations Discussion
Aisha’s post today is about racial profiling she has experienced as a Pakistani American. I think it’s an important read especially for Caucasians. We all too easily can over look such race related problems.
Everyone faces challenges in life but if you’re a Caucasian you are privileged whether you realize it or you are oblivious to it. You are privileged almost wherever you go and whatever you do, whether you welcome that status or are disgusted by it.
When you walk down the street, most likely people don’t move to the other side when they see you coming as happens to African Americans. At the airport, if you think it’s a hassle as a Caucasian, try it when your passport sports a name with Middle Eastern flavor. And if you’re Hispanic, forget about “just browsing” in stores. You will be followed by security.
Ever since I was little I have been very aware of other races. Our small Maryland town was 95% white, at least. Some of my classmates were racist but my parents were not. I remember my sisters and I used to love to test my parents and ask, “If we wanted to marry a black man, what would you do?” My Mother always answered that she’d rather us marry good black men then white men who treated us badly.
I wish I could say I treated all races equally, but I don’t. At least it isn’t in a bad way. I don’t think. Here’s the difference. If I see a white person I can walk by them and basically ignore their existence. If I see a black person I go out of my way to smile and say “hello”. I over compensate. I feel like a representative of sorts. I feel like that if I’m nice to them I’ll heal racial hurts they may have endured. That maybe they’ll think, “That white chick just said “hello” to me. All is right with the world.” … It’s ignorant, I know.
I grew up in a Baptist church in my hometown and the congregation was completely white. Sometimes, sometimes though, a black family would show up. Maybe once a year. When I was little I would whisper to my Mom, “Mommy look! Black people! I’m going to go welcome them!”
A few years ago it was my turn to feel out of place. We had just moved into our first house and I wanted to find a new church to attend. I checked the newspaper and found a Baptist church just down the road. That next Sunday, I was running late as usual. I found a space in the crowded parking lot. As I walked in the doors I could already hear the music playing. And all at once, all eyes were on me. I was the only white person in the room - something I had never experienced in my life. I wished I could shrink down to an inch tall and run out but I found a seat. Everyone was kind and shook my hand, smiled at me, etc. Nevermind that I was woefully underdressed in a sweater and jeans. These people were dressed up! I couldn’t help but thinking that maybe somewhere in that congregation a little black girl may be whispering, “Mommy look! A white person!”
Since marrying Carlos I have had a few run in’s with racism. Mostly stares at the “biracial couple” by older people. I must have gotten used to it or mixed marriages are more common now, because I no longer feel the eyes on me.
I hope I haven’t touched a nerve or stepped on toes with this post. It’s a touchy subject for sure. My purpose in writing it was to start an open, honest dialogue about race relations. I do think the world can be changed one person at a time and the first step to being compassionate towards someone who is different from yourself is to try to place yourself in their shoes.
Sometimes we can do that through open forums like this. Sometimes it’s through media. What are your thoughts? What books and movies have affected your view of race relations?
I recommend Not a Genuine Black Man by Brian Copeland. I also watched this amazing little documentary today on YouTube about how black girls view themselves. It’s called A Girl Like Me.
35 Comments
January 30, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I too live in a caucasian society. Blue eyes and fair skin all around. When I was in Grade 1 or 2 I was “best buds” with a little Indian girl, we would play for hours at hopscotch =) then it suddenly ended! Her father had found out whom she was playing with and put a stop to it, I know being white didn’t help, it was offensive to him that my sister and I were being raised by my single father. She just said “I am not allowed toplay with you anymore” and she looked a little digusted by me after that, he father must have said something horrible!
I was very very confused and hurt.
Since then I have had other friends of different ethnic backgrounds (Though never black — there just aren’t any around me growing up!). My step-mom (who came later) was very racist. I always felt sorry for her that she misses out on so many fantastic people by having that perspective.
There are such broad generalizations for each race, its so ignorant. I only feel awkward around others if they are obviously judging me by my blue eyes first. (Though I then tend to overcompensate like you!)
January 30, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Pol* - I dealt with rejection due to being Caucasian, too. It was a Korean guy who wouldn’t see me any longer because his parents would never accept me.
I also identify with the blue eye thing. When I went to my husband’s native country everyone commented about my eyes (which really are not even a spectacular blue). It was flattering at first but compliments on my eyes were followed by negative comments of how my son had gotten brown eyes.
My mother-in-law was especially bad about this with both my sons.
I think their eyes a a beautiful chocolate brown like their daddy’s. :)
January 30, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I can totally understand what you are trying to say. My DH is black. We have been married for 18 years..been together since the 9th grade. Sometimes it’s hard. The stares or people who are nice when they first meet you until you introduce your husband. Also the people who want to talk about your children and if it’s hard for them. My son just went through his first experience of racism. His girlfriend had to break it off with him because he is black. I absolutely love what your mom had to say when you asked what they would do if you married a black man. What a great role model. I wish we could look at each other as people, each of us trying to make it in this world as best we can. It is dialogue like this that may get us headed in the right direction. Good for you! Come on over and visit me in my part of the world anytime!!
dawn
http://www.ouradventuresinkorea.blogspot.com
January 31, 2007 at 12:32 am
We have racism problems, even in this little island paradise of ours. We live on the only federal reserve in Alaska. We have a high unemployment rate so times are tough for a lot of our locals. They tend to get bitter when they see an “umshewah” (our word for “white man”) get a little bit ahead. Nevermind that a lot of our locals are not college educated and just simply aren’t qualified for the positions “outsiders” are being hired for. All they see is the color of the skin and they get bitter.
My family, however, does not. My entire family is very accepting of others. I’ve got cousins who have married black, hispanic, and white men. I have cousins who have married white women. I have a step-sister who married an asian. Our family is very multi-cultural.
I was in college when the movie Dances With Wolves came out in the theaters. I went to see it with some friends of mine. When we walked out, they could not stop apologizing! They most definitely over-compensated for things they had nothing to do with! I never felt like they had discriminated against me. I don’t belong to the tribes portrayed in the movie, yet they felt guilty.
I wish more people were willing to accept others for who they are and not so much what they look like.
January 31, 2007 at 3:19 am
“That white chick just said “hello” to me. All is right with the world.” … It’s ignorant, I know.” < -- its not ignorant sincey ou are aware that he wont' automatically think that all is right in the world. ?But you WISH that it would make thigs better. That is not ignorant. That is sweet and we need more people like that. I feel like you are experieincin the "burden of the minority" as we call it. The knowledge that a good or bad experience with that race can lead to to a whole stereotype based on the experience. Most white people dont have to know what that feels like but I as a Pakistani and a Muslim feel that pressure all the time. If I do a bad job at a store will th eman say "man Pakistanis are lazy?" etc. You are doing the same thing with your desire to reach out to minorities for fear they will think all White people are racist. (To sum up the ramble all I mean to say is that what you are doing is normal and done all the time:))
Regarding your experience as the only white woman in the church, it reminded me of a boy in my Brazil trip Jason who is blonde with blue eyes and white as snow. Though Brazil has white skinned folks this guy was obviously not Brazilian. He tried SOO hard to fit in but he was constanlty rebuffed by people who viewed him as the boorish American. One day he came up to me and said “aisha please dont get offended but I finaly know what it feels like to be a minority and what you go through. People keep assuming that I am a rich white guy who can’t speak portugeese even though i practiced fo months and i try to be so nice” I was so touched that he took this moment to look beyond himself and experience a feeling so few white people will ever face if they live in a predominately white community in the US.
I appreciate people like you who think and reflect and try to emphathise with others. It is truly what keeps the world going round. I mean that.
(And thanks for the shout out! :))
January 31, 2007 at 3:47 am
Kerri your experiences are fascinating to me because I am studying issues on indigenous rights in one of my classes. Would you mind if I emailed you one day to find out your opinion on some questions I’ve had that maybe you could point me in the right direction in?
January 31, 2007 at 6:02 am
My father being in the Navy when I was growing up, we traveled to many places in the U.S. I now live in the south where I was born and I must admit I notice the racism most down here. My son (now 24) went to public school here in the south and I always found it so hard to get him to realize that the color of a persons skin wasn’t as important as the person themselves. Every time he would point someone out to me and say “Mom, see that black person over there?” or “This guy I work with, the Guatamalan…” I would always correct him and say what does the color of his skin or country he is from have to do with what you are telling me about them… ie, the car they are driving or the dog they are walking or some such thing. My daughter (she’s 12) who I homeschool has never once identified a person to me by their skin color or ethnicity. My son was not raised to be racist but seems to me it’s what they are exposed to. Luckily he has learned to now be more aware of the people themselves than what they look like. I have never allowed him to carry or have a confederate flag on his vehicle (while living with us) because he and his friends have absolutely no concept of what the flag stood for. I tell him “you want to fly a flag? Then fly one that represents unity and peace. One that represents us as a whole nation of equal people. (I just wish I had had the opportunity to homeschool him also but 18 years ago it was so frowned on.) Sorry this was so long, but I can really get angry at the ignorance of some people. Thanks for letting me have my small say.
January 31, 2007 at 1:33 pm
(Tee sorry I keep jumping in here but the stories are so fascinating)
Kim, I have had frends who fly confed flags and say its not a sign of racism but of their cultural heritage (I’m from Ga where this was very recently on our state flag) Are they just saying that? I admit if I see that sort of flag on a truck or a shirt I tend to walk ten feet away because /I’m afraid of them. I ont know if thats stupid or not but I dont know if they are trying to give me a message that I better listen to..
As far as “the black guy there” or the “the Pakistani” As a minority I can’t speak for all minorities only for me but that sort of stuff doesnt bother me too much unlses the tone is condesceding. It’s all about the tone :). I used to get mad when someoe would ask me to describe someone and get offended if I said black. I mean if they are why is it offensive to say so you know? So me personally if someone says “she looked indian/pakistani or middle eastern” it doesnt other me but if its said iwth derision or snideness then i would mind.
January 31, 2007 at 2:25 pm
This is so interesting. I grew up in a MD suburb where we had about three black people in our high school. The one girl used to sit with us at lunch. To other peoples’ credit, we never got a negative comment about that, at least not to our faces. But I was good friends with this one guy, and used to talk about him to my parents. So one night, I was going to a party and my mom drove me. I said, “Oh, there’s Alan!” And she said, “Oh. You didn’t tell me he was black.” And honestly, it never occurred to me. He was just Alan. But I could tell it bothered her. And my dad is far worse. I cringe at some of the stuff he says, and his mother is even worse than that! I wonder how I turned out so different?
I really even hate the word “race” because as far as I’ve always been concerned, we’re all human. Beyond that, who cares?
January 31, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Tee,
I’m a lurker of your blog, but wanted to comment here. I too relate to the blue-eyed thing. I come from a family of ALL blue eyes. My children have brown eyes and features like their dad, and my mom is constantly making comments about how “they don’t look anything like us”. It is hurtful to me especially now that she has a new blue-eyed grandchild from my sibling. She’s just so thrilled that the baby looks “like us”. It’s done jokingly, but it makes me crazy. I love their brown eyes, and I don’t want them picking up negative feelings about it, especially from family members. I’ve had to say something about it several times, but it still happens.
I have also had some Caucasian people look at my fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes, and assume I must share their views about race. People I have never even met before feel free to make racist comments in general conversation assuming I agree with them. It shocks me every time it happens, and I never know exactly what to say. I also live in the south, and don’t want my children growing up with these ignorant views. My husband and I work hard to teach our children not to judge other people based on race, religion, status, sexual orientation, etc…but it is difficult when you have extended family members (mostly older) who do otherwise.
A fellow SAHM
January 31, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Dawn - It’s nice to talk to other couples who face similar challenges. I often wonder what struggles my children will face being biracial. So far they haven’t had any trouble. (My oldest is only 8 yrs old though.) My older son looks part Hispanic but I think the younger one looks mostly caucasian. So it’ll be interesting to see also if the younger one has any identity issues of wanting to feel more Latino. (I’ve heard this is a problem for biracial children who can “pass”.)
I think your situation is twice as interesting because you’re in Korea now, too. When I was training in Tae Kwon Do, all my closest friends were Korean so I know that in their culture interracial marriage is much more taboo than in the US. Have you felt that since moving to Korea?
Kerri - Although it does no good for the locals to become bitter - since this is only self destructive, I can understand the sentiment behind it. They’ve been put in a position where they are lacking in opportunties and it’s unfair. This can be applied to African Americans as well.
I think that as a society we still have the obligation to right the wrongs of past generations until everyone is on a level playing field.
Some people would say that this is the United States of American and everyone has an equal opportunity to work hard and achieve success. But I have been to a few reservations in California and the standard of living was shocking to me. I don’t think that most white people realize that there are many modern day Native Americans living in poverty.
I think it’s good and healthy though that you don’t hold that bitterness in your heart. That doesn’t help solve anything for sure.
The Daces with Wolves story you told was really intersting. I can identify with your friends. I probably would have had the same reaction.
No one individual can speak for their entire race, but I know that I personally carry a lot of guilt in matters of race. None of my ancestors were even slave owners or any of that. Even if they were, I know logically that that has nothing to do with who I am.
I just want everyone to be treated equal, and even in 2007, they’re not.
Aisha - “Burden of the Minority” is a very interesting topic to me. We talked about it a little in E-mail although I didn’t know the proper name.
That is cool that your classmate, Jason had this kind of realization. That is an experience he can carry with him the rest of his life. He will certainly be more empathetic from now on.
And don’t apologize for jumping in here. That’s what I wanted to happen. I want the comments on this post to be more of a discussion so we can all come away knowing something more on the topic.
Kim - I have to admit, I do that ALL the time. (Mentioning people’s race when it’s not relevant to the story.) I don’t think most people do this to be racist, though. It’s just information to help build a mental picture… I know when I read a book I like a good description of the characters. Also, I just find culture so interesting.
I agree with you on the confederate flag for sure.
Aisha (again!) :) - I think there may be a very small number of people who fly the confederate flag because it’s part of their history and heritage. But I also think a lot of people fly it in more of a white pride way which I find unacceptable. Either way, if you know that it’s making other people uncomfortable, why not take it down? Some people would say it’s their right, and I suppose it is, but I think if you truly care about other humans you would take it down.
Jana - I either forgot or never knew you grew up in MD. No wonder I like you ;) … Thank you for sharing your thoughts and joining in the conversation.
I like the idea of there being just a “human race” and being colorblind and all that but I just love culture way too much to smudge the lines. There are things about humans that make us different and things that make us similar - not better or worse. I think we can celebrate the similarities AND differences.
ALL - Sorry I had to reinstate the stupid word verification. I had some really disgusting spam being left. I can handle a few links for life insurance but this stuff was nasty.
January 31, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Anon, you said “People I have never even met before feel free to make racist comments in general conversation assuming I agree with them” I have had SO many white friends say that to me. You know I am planning to do a post about this on my own blog one of these days but Pakistanis are racist too against black people. its really infruistating. Adn the thing that pisses me off is they assume that we all agree much like you described.
Oprah said something years ago during a discussion on racism. She said if someone in your presence makes a racist joke and you laugh, you are just as much a racist. If someone around you makes a racist remark or joke and you sit silently and dont’ speak up you are an accomplice.
I try to speak up when I can, and often times I have found that a steely disapproving stare in the face of a joke doesn’t even require any words.
(Aisha- having sign in difficulties)
January 31, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Aisha - I remember that Oprah! I was going to reference that to Anonymous as well. I haven’t been put in that situation very often - at least since out of high school. It is VERY uncomfortable. I have to admit that if it’s someone I don’t know well I am most likely to just try and change the subject than to verbally reprimand them. The guilt is huge though.
One person I often correct is my MIL. She can be very ignorant and racist and I often speak up to her.
I don’t judge people harshly for not speaking up. It takes a lot of guts to do so. I admire people who find that courage. I hope I’ll be one of those people next time I’m put in that kind of situation.
January 31, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Aisha and Tee,
I am the anon who posted. (I guess I need to assign myself a name–I’m Vay.)
I remember that Oprah as well, and do understand that. I am a very non-confrontational and meek person, so there have been times where I have abruptly changed the subject or made a disapproving face when in those situations. If it is family though, or my children are present, I DO speak up. If they don’t see the disapproval from me, then my words are just that-words. It can be difficult though and I have felt the awful guilt of not verbally speaking up.
It is interesting though when I have used the stone face and allow an “uncomfortable silence”, how people can suddenly change their tune to “I mean…I’m not racist or anything…”. Some people DO get the point by your silence or expressions–at least I hope they do.
Thank you for the discussion and for letting me butt in (new at posting on a blog!)
Vay
January 31, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Vay - You’re very right about the uncomfortable silence often being enough. Sometimes it’s a benefit to be shy and quiet (I am too).
I’ve found people reveal so much if you just let them talk.
As an unrelated aside, this works well in relationships, too. When my husband and I have had an argument and he’s venting his frustration - if I jump in and start talking we usually just go back and forth like a tennis match. I’ve found that if I just listen he’ll usually talk it out himself. He may start by saying, “I’m angry because…” But when I just show that I’m hearing his side it’s very calming and he ends with, “But I’m sorry for my part in the situation and I just want to be OK with you.”
:) Thanks for commenting!
January 31, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Hey Tee, that is very interesting that you wrote about this topic because it was what our sermon on Sunday was about. You could of heard a pin drop in the church. It was very convicting especially when he was talking about stereotypes. You see stereotypes everywhere you look; movies, tv, the media in general, and in society it is so evident. Ok now that it took me like 10 minutes to write this comment because I didn’t want to offend I will post it now.
January 31, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Ya I saw that YouTube video before and thought it was so very interesting…I did a post on it too, last year. I love learning of other cultures and yes I studied Japanese for 3 years and love it!!! My dream is to work with Asians in my hometown someday, hopefully full-time…I love stuff like that…like touring, translating, or teaching perhaps…we’ll see if my dream comes true, or rather my prayers get answered, hey? Thanks for visiting me and especially for letting me know!!! ~Demara (Yokooso means Welcome in Japanese)
January 31, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Several years ago I was looking for a different job and had to prove to Worker’s Comp that I filled out at least 2 Apps a week.
I answered one ad in the paper, and in the slot marked RACE, rather than check the Caucasian box, I went down to Other and printed HUMAN.
The guy who called said he just had to talk to the person who must not want the job very much to be such a smart*ss.
I also got an interview, but we could not properly schedule my working hours.
It might have been interesting, doing a job there for awhile.
I grew up along the Ohio River, on a street where one house had been used in the Underground Railroad. There were 18 houses on the block, most of the men steel millworkers or coal miners and the women homemakers or part-time store clerks.
Italian, Greek, Polish, Phillipino, Black born in town, Black from Mississippi, my dad (a veteran of the US Navy and world-traveled) and my grandma, White Trash from West Virginia.
The youngsters playing Tin Can Alley or hopscotch looked like we were clones of people in the United Nations.
My dad would sit on the porch and smile like there was no tomorrow. He said he wished the whole world could act together so well. Several of us former kids still send e-mails and birthday cards for each other.
I went to school with people from other countries who came to this one for a better life. I have worked with folks who did enough to get by and some who gave too much of their own conviction and got lost along the way.
We each do our best.
When it came to getting married, my dad said what your mom did: he wanted us to find a man who would work hard to take care of his family.
He said when the skin is cut, all people bleed red blood.
February 1, 2007 at 12:22 am
MrsDoF - This was so beautifully worded. You have such a way of telling a story. The town you grew up in sounds like a Utopia.
I’ve messed around on applications and questionaires with the race question, too. Sometimes checking off “Native American” (which I’m only a very small part) or even checking off a race I’m not any part of.
I had a problem when we did the Census when it came to race too. I ended up having to write in bi-racial hispanic/caucasian or something.
Something about those applications that has always been really interesting and confusing to me is why some specifically ask “Do you have any Hispanic blood?” — I wonder what this is about? Would love to know if someone can clue me in.
February 1, 2007 at 12:23 am
Tonya - Would love to hear more about the sermon.
Yokooso - Seems we have a similar love for other cultures. How did you specifically become interested in Japanese culture?
February 1, 2007 at 1:44 am
Tee~my adopted grandparents were missionaires in Japan and they spoke fluent Japanese, I learnt to eat with chopsticks at a young age because of them and also acquire a liking for seaweed…when I was a teenager and my family got our first exchange student who was from Japan I had so much fun working with him…I felt like I helped him so much to understand English. Like I had a gift in that area. This gift didn’t get revealed until I was getting ready to go on a Mission’s trip to Korea…I knew no Korean and hear I was watching a video of a sermon from the church we’d be working at…well surprisingly after the video I said to the Korean leaders there exactly what was said in the sermon, they were amazed and asked if I had studied Korean I said no?…and they said this is your gift!!! Weird. But you know I think when God chooses to he opens our hearts and minds to receive the translation of any foreign language. It’s all up to Him whether we are to know and understand something I believe.
February 1, 2007 at 2:21 am
Yokooso - That is a very cool story. As a teenager I was heavily into Tae Kwon Do (Korean martial art) and was training to become a master. My Master took me under his wing and taught me so much. I learned to speak and read/write some basic Korean and I learned to love Korean food.
So I can really understand your love for these cultures and desire to work with these people. And brava finding your God given gift!
February 1, 2007 at 2:48 am
Yup, grew up in Harford Cty my whole life!
I didn’t mean that people shouldn’t embrace their differences and their own cultures, just that we should be able to look at each other without thinking, “Oh, I wonder if she’s hispanic?” or, “He looks Arabic,” or whatever. I honestly don’t think that way. We have a tenant right now who is white and her boyfriend is black. Granted he is light-skinned, but I didn’t know he was black until she told me. Then I was like, “Oh, yeah, I guess he is!” I felt kind of silly.
Thanks for your comments earlier! I’m working on Chap. 2, don’t worry!
February 1, 2007 at 3:08 am
Well, I dunno about Utopia, but we got along fine as neighbors.
In the 1960s and 70s, the mills and the mines were working 24/7, so everybody had a job well enough to pay the mortgage and kids’ shoes. Anybody with a good attitude and able body could make a fine life.
These days, one mill is closed and rusty, and the other down to one shift. The railroad was abandoned 20 years ago.
The town population is less than half what it was when I graduated high school.
I read in the newspaper website that the city government has taken possession of vacant houses and torn them down to prevent rats.
My sister and her husband, who still live in the house where we grew up, says there is much more crime and drunken brawls lately.
The old neighborhood couldn’t last forever.
My sons have friends through school of many skin colors. My husband and I raised them in a university town, where there are people of many colors and spoken accents, here for academic advancements.
I tell them this town is much like when I was growing up, but the difference is the main output.
Rather than coils of steel, we have educated people.
February 1, 2007 at 3:20 am
Aisha, I don’t know if I can help you, but I love getting e-mail. :o)
care_bear_591@msn.com
February 1, 2007 at 4:06 am
Hiya Tee - Great Post!
In Singapore, we are brought up a in multi-racial society and embrace all culture and with globalisation now, Singapore attracts lots of people all over the world.
I have best friends who are Indians & Malays too and we accept them as who they are and not their skin colour.
You are fantastic Tee!
February 1, 2007 at 11:59 am
Cool Blog Tee, thought I would check it out!
February 1, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Unfortunately I don’t have time to read all the responses. My answer is easy to understand, but complex in that I see it both ways.
I’m white, and understand how fortunate I am in this society. I once dated a black woman, and when it became more serious, our coversations turned to this subject of racism. It suddenly struck me that I would be subjecting myself to the same derision that I had only perfunctorily noticed before. And, though I was ashamed for it, I broke it off. My family is from Ohio, and there are some pretty strong prejudices built in, and I wasn’t willing to face it.
I’ve lived near the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State, and have been the only white man in the bar near closing time. Let me tell you, that is very scary. Similar to being black in the deep south in the hey day of the KKK. Not as bad, but scary. Men in my situation, men that lived in that town, have gone out in a stretcher, cut up and beaten.
Human nature is what it is. We have to rise above it, and that ascension is quite slow, but it is steadily doing so. At least in our country. I have my doubts about the Middle East, but I don’t live there. But I can assure you that I will never walk through the streets of Baghdad in this lifetime, nor in any other Middle Eastern country for that matter. I’m pretty sure they hate me just to look at me. And nobody is crying for me over there.
We are a very enlightened society, as witnessed by your attention to the feelings of others of different colors.
As for racial profiling, I’m sorry for anyone who is a victim of it. But the facts are what they are. To narrow the search for terrorists based on Middle Eastern descent is just playing the odds. And that is unfortunate, I know. When the demographics change of the majority of perpetrators of suicide bombings, so too will the profile to catch them.
February 1, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Scott thanks for your candor.
I just have to say that you said when the majority of the issues stop happening from middle easterners then the profiling will change and I had to address that. The Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, the Oklahoma City bombings were not done by Muslims and I dont see white people getting profiled for terrorist acts though? Also This is a shot in my own foot but I must say that Muslims are not all middle easterner and many of the accused or convicted terrorirsts are not middle easterners (John Lindh Walker was a white boy from Cali). You ca’nt just say “Middle easterner” let me point them out and single them out. Also, in the US (KNOCK ON WOOD) the amount of middle eastern terrorist incidents you can count on one or three fingers while the terror inflicted through white people doing horrendous acts in the US are quite a bit more.
The Facts are what they are? Did the Japense deserve to be interned in WWII? Why weren’t Germans so detained since the Japanese were consiedered threats much like Muslims are today and people sincerley belived they were such threats? Sure some Germans were interned but look at the percentages and you will be surprised.
We hav ea history of racism and a history of profiling and people can justify the reasons but it doesnt make it right.
I’m sorry if this came off as angry. As the one profiled I am more scared than you of the (God forbid) next terrorist attack in the US because I know it is my rights and my freedom that will vanish like the wind.
Please remember that the people in Germany during the Nazi era sincerely believed in the extermination of the Jews and the justice in it. The type of thought process that dismisses us all as middle easterns worthy of suspciion leads to the thoughts that we can be put to internment camps, and hell get rid of us all together lke Hitler did!
You might think it would never happen but Im sure no one thought Bosnia, Nazi Germany, and the like would ever happen either. Maybe you might not even mind if it happened, but the pepole in those countries did not mind either, history later proved to embarass them for their beliefs.
I’m not saying you think any of these things, but I hope this explains why profiling is so very frightening because it is a slipper slope and history has shown that people have indeed slipped on it.
February 1, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Scott, as always I can count on you to be honest and to have a solid opinion. Thanks for commenting. I’m curious what your thoughts will be to Aisha’s response.
Aisha - I think many of us are so brain washed to truly believe “terrorists are of Middle Eastern decent” by the government and the media that it may be surprising to some when you lay out actual incidences and the ethnicity of those terrorists as you did.
I think it’s also important for people to read that line about you being more worried about a terrorist attack than the average white person because of what the consequences will be. I don’t think people often put themselves in those shoes and understand what it must be like.
February 1, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Shionge - I know how much you also love other cultures. It must be such a fantastic experience living in Singapore.
February 1, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Here is an important documentry on Muslims after 9/11:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQfIHOxh8Hc (Part I)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYIquy6TrWo (Part II)
February 1, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Aisha and Tee - I didn’t take your response as angry, as I expected some repercussion from such a candid response. It’s hard for me to put all of my opinion into a few paragraphs. Let me say that I lived right across the street from a Muslim family, and we went through the 9/11 happenings together, talking about it, debating the Iraq war, etc. I never once thought that they, or anyone else that looked remotely “middle eastern” (sorry, but I am American and have a limited world view) was a danger to me in any way. But, if I were in the position of screening people at the airport, I would lean towards the people who resemble the general features of the people who perpetrated the hijacking of those planes. That’s what I mean by profiling. What you are saying is of course wrong. Simply incarcerating a group of people for the sheer coincidence of being of the same race is monumentally stupid.
And yes, there are terrorists in the states, and there are evil people of every stripe. I would also search and detain anyone that looked suspicious for any reason. But the people that took down the towers, and the ones that blew up the London subways, were radical Muslims. One white from California does not a profile make. The odds of that are similar to that of winning the lottery. If a building blows up in New York City, especially from an airplane flying into it, where are you going to put your money?
I too am moved by your point that you are more scared because of the repercussions you would suffer. Believe me, I don’t like it. I hate it as a matter of fact. I hate a lot of things. I hate how the world is growing into a hostile environment for anyone to live in. I have kids, two boys, who are living in the extreme likelihood of being drafted to go fight in wars because extreme religious zealots care more about the hereafter than the here and now. What makes it worse is I don’t even believe in life after death, and these kind of people not only scare me, but disgust me for throwing away their own and everybody else’s life for their distorted dream of immortality.
I’m sorry for what you have to endure. I truly am. I promise that you would never get an angry glance from me. But if I were the one doing the profiling, I would do so without malice, and without any reasonable expectation that were doing anything wrong.
February 2, 2007 at 1:24 am
Scott - Well spoken as always.
May 13, 2008 at 2:52 pm
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