Today, I’m a gate agent for a major airline in New York’s JFK airport. I was appalled when a woman broke down crying and refused to board the plane after she saw 4 Middle Eastern men board it. But as she started to calm down, she said, “My husband and daughter were on American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11.” MMT

Comments

Hmmm.....difficult one this. On the one hand you can understand why she feels that way. On the other it's an excuse for racism. It would show true strength of character to not see every middle eastern man as a terrorist after losing your family to a 9/11.

There's a difference between "racism" and "visceral, triggering reminders of PTSD brought on by an event that KILLED HER FAMILY"

The "ground zero mosque" situation is half this, and half a misleading first impression (it's two blocks away at a Burlington Coat Factory, and it's not even mostly a mosque).

racism is prejudice against race, meaning being impartial towards a person in terms of their race. it's racist to be scared of all Middle Eastern people just because it happened to be Middle Eastern people who killed your family. that doesn't mean there's good reason to claim all Middle Eastern hijack planes.

@ZuRG: So if a black man mugged me, it would be ok that I would think all black men are muggers? My boss hit me a few months ago, does that mean that every manager I have will hit me? As I said before, I can understand her feelings, but it is still wrong to feel that way?

RightKnight, that's not what he's saying. If you suffered from PTSD from a violent attack by a black man, yes it would be excusable to have the sight of another black man trigger an episode.

So the thing is, PTSD isn't logical. Most trauma and most phobias aren't. Imagine you had arachnophobia. You see a spider, you get terrified. To you, it doesn't matter that it's a completely harmless daddy long legs that you could squash with one finger. It's still a spider! And it triggers a knee-jerk reaction of terror because in your mind, spiders are amazingly dangerous and terrifying. Or just horrifically gut-wrenchingly disgusting. In this case, it really does make me think. The unfortunate thing is when people have knee-jerk reactions to people of other races and associate qualities to them because of their appearance, race, gender, or otherwise. It is unfair to treat all Middle Eastern people as terrorists because of what an extremist group has done; however, one cannot also ignore the fact that that extremist group has deep roots in the Middle East and that its membership is hidden in the Middle Eastern population. A large number of Americans have, unfortunately, as a result developed a distrust for those of Middle Eastern appearance. Is it fair? No. Is it justified? Only insofar that they have been trained by some extreme events to distrust people of Middle Eastern descent. The true strength of character for the majority of the people, then, is to overcome the immediate distrust that the media has instilled in them and to look beyond appearances. That, I'm afraid, is a very difficult thing to do for most. It is really easy to shake your finger at others and disapprove of their distrust and apparent "racism". The problem is that most people are not intentionally racist but are instead trained to distrust a group of people with shared characteristics (race) because of what a subset of that group has done in the past. I return again to phobias. It's like being bitten by a dog when you were younger. Even if it is completely irrational, some people develop a fear of all dogs for the rest of their lives, even if future dogs had absolutely nothing to do with the actions of that first; it is that fear of being bitten again that makes them afraid of all dogs. It could be the most lovable, fluffy, harmless, toothless dog in the world, and someone with a fear of dogs would probably still fear it. Fear is not a rational thing. In this case, this woman has been bitten in the worst way possible: she had a very real loss that was a responsibility of a group of people who have probably grown to legendary levels of malevolence in her mind. You cannot just scoff, shake your head in disapproval, and say that she needs to get over her "racism", which is in fact more a set of emotional triggers because of similarities in appearance than an actual prejudice against someone because of their race. TL;DR: @RightKnight I very much doubt this woman's priority is showing strength of character. I am pretty much sure her strength is dedicated to getting through each day intact. When you have suffered a great loss like hers, then you can see if strength of character and making a point to the people of the world that you have not suffered a trauma and can get over any involuntary mental responses to triggers is really the foremost thought in your mind.

"To you, it doesn't matter that it's a completely harmless daddy long legs that you could squash with one finger. It's still a spider!" A daddy long legs isn't a spider.

@RightNight: An excuse for racism? So in being reminded of the loss of her family, she's actively looking for a reason to descriminate against an ethnic group? And of course, her fears aren't at all justified by the fact that they were dressed exactly the same as members of the terrorist organization whose claim to fame was hijacking an airplane? Ah, and strength of character. What a joke. Why show "true strength of character"? So you can convince yourself you're a good person? Is she to be looked down upon for not showing "true strength of character"? Not everybody needs to lie to themself to be able to sleep at night. And it isn't wrong to feel anyway at all. It's better than lying to yourself so you can believe you're in the right. How you feel is how you feel. And the examples you're citing are absolutely incomparable to having you're immediate family murdered for absolutely no reason be a still active terrorist movement. It would appear that kupowark is correct.

Prejudice is worst form of ignorance she, no matter what the provication is being prejudiced. It´s desgusting. Imagine someone doing the reverse. You (a white person) are travelling in a middle eastern country, and a person refuses to serve you in a resteraunt (for example) because their family was killed in an American missile strike. How would you feel? Would you still be defending her on the basis of PTSD? I think not. Especially if you were not American, and had nothing to do with that strike.

Funny how so many people can point fingers and get pissy with American's for being upset and suffering from things like PTSD when it comes to people from the middle east but its ok for those same American's to automatically assume I am a Mormon, polygamist, have 20 kids, and should be ostracized or locked up... simply because I am from Utah. People that generally point the finger and say oh you are racist are worse in their racism than the OP. Racism doesn't just come in the color of your skin....

Add a comment

You must be a member to comment.

Sign Up Now! It's Free!