Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Ay-rabs! Eek!
This story has been making the rounds on the blogosphere, so I thought I'd address it. A writer for Women's Wall Street took a trip on an airplane with her family- and 14 Syrians. Needless to say, she pretty much thought she would die in a fiery blaze, especially after seeing the Syrians (gasp!) take turns (GASP!) going to the bathroom, apparently to piece together a bomb in turns instead of, you know, emptying their bladders. Then the plane touched down in one piece, the Syrians (who were actually musicians) disembarked, and the writer was relieved. The moral of this story? We need racial profiling.
Now, I won't fault the woman for getting suspicious about the Syrians. After all, the vast majority of terrorist attacks against this nation have been carried out by Middle Eastern jihadists. But, save for the ending, the story reads more like a tale against racial profiling than one supporting it: "Yes, I was on a plane with 14 Muslims. I was scared by their slightest movements, but they turned out to be peaceful musicians. So how about subjecting every Muslim/person of Middle Eastern heritage to a full-body cavity search before they get on a plane?" It just doesn't work.
Now, I won't fault the woman for getting suspicious about the Syrians. After all, the vast majority of terrorist attacks against this nation have been carried out by Middle Eastern jihadists. But, save for the ending, the story reads more like a tale against racial profiling than one supporting it: "Yes, I was on a plane with 14 Muslims. I was scared by their slightest movements, but they turned out to be peaceful musicians. So how about subjecting every Muslim/person of Middle Eastern heritage to a full-body cavity search before they get on a plane?" It just doesn't work.
