Creeping Discrimination

I'm usually not a fan of lawsuits, but I was delighted to read this article and see that this man was awarded a big sum of money for being forced to cover his T-shirt before getting on an airplane. The T-shirt had Arabic script on it, and other passengers 'felt uncomfortable.' The man was forced to cover his T-shirt and he was moved from his assigned seat to the back of the plane.

This could easily happen to me sometime. I often have traveled with books and materials that have Arabic script on them.

He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber."

This is ignorance at it's best.

There is nothing wrong with being an Arab. There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim. Being Arab or Muslim does not make one a terrorist, anymore than being a Christian does (remember Timothy McVeigh?).

I'm reminded of a Walton's episode where some of the townies decide to burn 'bad' books in the town square. John Boy Walton comes upon the scene and is outraged. He realizes that someone in the God fearing Christian community has thrown a Holy Bible into the fire, because it was printed in German. (Of course this was at the beginning of world war two). Everyone is horrified when they realize that they didn't know what they were burning, because it was in a 'foreign' language, and they had allowed their fear, stereotyping and ignorance direct their actions.

When you don't understand something, it is unfortunately natural to have some fear about it. The worst part of human nature turns that fear into hysteria and commits all sorts of horrible acts to try to 'eliminate' the thing which is feared.

I hope that all the people involved in this little T-shirt incident have learned something. I hope that we all wake up to the way in which our ignorance and fear can hurt others... and the world as a whole. Inshallah. (Arabic for God Willing).
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240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

He was told other passengers felt uncomfortable because an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber,'" the ACLU said.

Jarrar eventually agreed to cover his shirt with another provided by JetBlue. He was allowed aboard but his seat was changed from the front to the back of the aircraft.

Last week, nine Muslims, including three children, were ordered off a domestic US flight after passengers heard what they believed were suspicious remarks about security.

Although the passengers, eight of them US citizens, were cleared by the FBI, they were reportedly still barred from the AirTran flight.

Security has been at a high level in US airports since the September 11, 2001 hijacked airliner attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

However, rights groups and representatives of the Muslim community say the security measures have led to frequent discrimination and harassment.

240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt - article