"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood."

I remember when the London Bombings happened, a friend of mine got on a bus a few days later. Looking at her you would presume she is Muslim, even though in fact she is mixed race. She had just finished work and was on her way to the gym. She had her gym bag with her. Not a suspect looking bag or anything. She said she got so many odd looks off people, and she had no idea why. People were looking at her suspiciously, and watching her every move. She really didn't have a clue why. It was only afterwards, when she thought about it, she realised what it was about. People were suspicious of her, and her bag, and what she had in it. She fully understood, and wasn't offended at all. She even commented that in the same situation, she might of done the same thing. People were scared, and paranoid, and worried about their safety. So fair play to them.

The same thing as happened again. Two young Muslim men were kicked off a flight here, because other passengers feared they were suicide bombers. They had flown to Malaga for the day from Manchester, to check out a place they were going to on holiday later in the year. They were chatting to each other in Urdu. Six travellers refused to board, and in the end they were asked to leave by the captain. The passengers were suspicious because they had only visited the place for the day. They were quizzed and released without charge. And why did they go through all this? Well that's because of the paranoid state the world is in at the moment, and it would seem that Muslims are getting the raw end of the deal.

Just because we are scared, and we have suffered, does that mean we now have the right to judge people on the way they look, and the colour of their skin? Every Muslim we now see, are we to be scared of, and wonder in the back of our minds if they are a suicide bomber? We can't live our lives that way, it isn't fair to anyone. Lots of Muslims are just as worried as the rest of us, they are in the same position we are, and they don't need situations like that happening to them. That isn't going to do anyone any favours. More and more Muslims are turning to extreme measures to get their points heard, and situations like that are only gong to give them even more ammunition against us. Just because of what's happened, that doesn't give us the right to be racist.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Aug 23, 2006
No.

Nothing gives us the right to be racist.
on Aug 23, 2006

Profiling is not racist.  It is a sad fact that fear can turn to it. 

But when you think about it, the police profile all the time.  If they get an APB on a "Suspected Mugger, White, 6'2, Male", they would be stupid to stop women, or blacks in trying to locate the mugger.

on Aug 23, 2006
I agree with Stutefish.
on Aug 23, 2006
Whether we like it or not Sally, fear does give us that right. The same fear that will make an old lady clutch at her bag if she sees a tall black man approaching her on the same side of the road. The same fear that will make a shop keeper alert if a group of boisterous boys come in to his shop. The same fear that will make me feel apprehensive when I'm walking alone at night and there's a group of teens approaching me. It's a natural gut reaction most people will have. There' s nothing they can do about it, it's as Doc said, a sad fact, but it's the truth.


Of course there are people who will use fear, and in my opinion, their ignorance as an excuse to be stupid and be unjust in the way they treat someone who is not of their race. Most times times there would be no good logical reason for someone to react that way just because a person has a different skin color. I can understand a person reacting when they've had a bad experience at the hands of someone from another race, but not when there's no reason for it. Some people just love to hate, that's their total existence.


However, and there is an however, in the case of the people who are Muslims, some people's reaction to them can't be blame. Remember, the ones who did what they did on September 11, lived amongst us, carried on on a daily basis, while plotting their evil deeds. These same people who no one questioned or paid attention to because they passed the color barrier, even though they were Muslims. These monsters committed an act that changed our world as we know it. And they continue to do it again, and again, and again. And they will keep on doing these evil acts and keep on trying because they feel we're not fit to live or walk in their shoes. You get what I'm saying Sally?

So why shouldn't the people on that plane react the way they did? I can't blame them really, it's a sad state of affairs, but in a case like that, there is reason for the fear and it's justified.
on Aug 23, 2006
I don't believe so, however, racism does give us the right to fear. (Please excuse the platitude.)
on Aug 23, 2006
Congrats on the Feature!  But let me make it clear that nothing justifies racism.  And I dont think that is what you are describing here.  Profiling, yes.  But that is not racism.
on Aug 23, 2006
Profiling, yes. But that is not racism.


I agree. Profiling is being suspicious of certain people because there's good logic or a reason behind it. See a sweaty guy on a plane with a suitcase clutched tightly to him? A bunch of rambunctious misfits roaming the streets at night? Someone that follows you no matter where you turn? Being suspicious of these people is profiling, they are acting in a way that causes you to think...hmm, uh oh, I could be in trouble.

Racism is wrong...and that's characterized by hating or being suspicious of an entire group of people for no good reason other than what you've heard or what you've been taught.

I know you knew all that, Doc...I just felt like clarifying for everyone else.

~Zoo
on Aug 23, 2006

know you knew all that, Doc...I just felt like clarifying for everyone else

Thanks.  Miami got a good student this fall!

on Aug 23, 2006
Thanks. Miami got a good student this fall!


Heh, thanks for that. I hope so, this chem class is nuts...he's got us working like dogs on the first day. I'm not bad at chemistry, but this work load is huge...and I still need to get a book for BMZ(botany, microbiology, zoology introduction) and that's got me a tad worried. They don't have the stupid thing in stock, so I might have to go into town tomorrow to check those bookstores which means lots of walking for me. bleh

~Zoo
on Aug 23, 2006

They don't have the stupid thing in stock, so I might have to go into town tomorrow to check those bookstores which means lots of walking for me

Oxford is not that big!  You can do it in a few minutes.

on Aug 23, 2006
Oxford is not that big! You can do it in a few minutes


I know, I just don't like walking too much...especially when it's 90 degrees outside.

~Zoo
on Aug 23, 2006
If this is the event I think you are talking about...I read the men were Asian...
on Aug 23, 2006
UBoB - good point.
racism does give us the right to fear

The racism - the discrimination - the prejudice - is direct towards: non-islamic people and the "not correct" type of Islamic people.

on Aug 24, 2006
It's not racism. It's prejudice.
on Aug 24, 2006
Suspicion and caution should not be confused with fear.

It's totally natural, (IMHO), to be suspicious of wrong doers that meet a certain criteria, and to be cautious of being near them.
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