8.16.2005

Please, allow me to retort.

Something tells me that this young man
will not be allowed on the plane.
Less because he is Arabic; More because of the HAND GRENADE.

I drafted a response back to the forwarded rubbish that supported racial profiling this morning. After such a long lapse of time, checking for a response to my response throughout the day, I was starting to get depressed. I was starting to think that I was right, and that my forward-friend was wrong.

But, Yes! An answer. Proof that we should, in fact, look questionably upon all Muslim men we come across. Or...well...not.

Sorry to all that were offended by this email [Uh-oh. I think she's talking about me here!]. But this is America and we have the right to feel and say however we want. If it means that what was said in this email is the "pot calling the kettle black", so be it. Sure, all the facts in (both "tests" [Please note that I sent along Ian's response to my early post almost verbatim, including the test]) are true and every race is guilty of some crime or another but that's not what this email is about. If you missed the point- let me enlighten you. It's about people being so politically correct and afraid to offend that they overlook things that could potentially be dangerous.

And most importantly, please do not judge us who support this email. Not all of us are afraid of terrorists, have those stickers on our car, shop at Wal-mart or more importantly, pin our hate on Muslim men. Gosh, since you are so politically correct, looks like youre the one who's the pot calling the kettle black.

Uh-oh. I think she got me with her well-crafted arguments, creative logic, and stunning sarcasm.

But, me? Politically correct? How wrong you are, sista. Just shows that you don't know me at all, beyond the fact that I delete all your puppy/angel/(((((HUGS))))) forwards. Oh, but you didn't actually know that, did you. Maybe I'll save that for my next response.

Anyway, to my answer to the "answer":

I certainly don't think that I'm being "politically correct" in any way by not eating up racism with a spoon and calling it dee-licious! In fact, in most occasions I'm the first to be politically incorrect, a la Bill Mahr and his now defunct show.

I just thought it was important to point out that a test could have been created like that for any ethnic group/social strata/sex. The fact that certain terrorist activity can be pinned on Muslin men is just a small amount of problems that have even been happening in the last few years. Palestine/Israel? Russia/Chechnya? Various acts of genocide throughout Africa? The Chechens are as likely to commit an act of terrorism in the industrialized world, but should I be stopped at the gate because I'm a Ukrainian sympathizer?

The real point is that we cannot judge an entire group of people by the actions of few. To do so is an act of shortsightedness and open discrimination. To stop every Muslim man that goes through airport security? We'd be missing a whole lot of other crazies by screening only people with a copy of the Quran.

Why not go the route of most European countries and screen everyone in depth, and not just with questions like "did you pack your own bag" -- several times -- instead of operating with the lackadaisical security we currently have in the US [Thanks, Annamaria!]? Wouldn't we cover both bases that way? Those can then rest assured that those "potentially dangerous" are being screened, and I can wait patiently for my turn to be questioned knowing that we aren't acting with blinders on and possibly missing other red flags and dangers.

I will be sure to keep everyone posted on this ongoing story as more developments arise. This is Jen Jones, NON-PC TV reporting.

Anonymous at 4:46 PM

6 spoke

6 Comments

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 7:29:00 AM  annamaria said...

I love how the only way s/he can conceptualize your disagreement and offense is to play the "politically correct" card. It's not politically correct to abhor racism and xenophobia--it is (and should be) the natural reaction of an intelligent person. It's not that we are afraid to offend Muslims, so much as it is just patently wrong to make judgments, and carry out draconian policies, simply because of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, orientation, etc.

And the fact that s/he says this cracks me up:

"If you missed the point- let me enlighten you. It's about people being so politically correct and afraid to offend that they overlook things that could potentially be dangerous."

Because, taking Ian's response into consideration, I could replace "politically correct and afraid to offend" in the above paragraph with "racist" and you would have the exact political and social climate that allowed the Oklahoma City bombing, lynchings, (and don't forget Eric Rudolph!), etc. to occur.

 

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 1:11:00 PM  annamaria said...

Well, Jen, if you missed the point--let me enlighten you (to borrow a phrase): Email-forward-friend (EFF) ignored his/her own race's history of terrorism and chose only to focus on the violent acts of Muslim men. You accused EFF of shopping at Wal-Mart. See? You're obviously in the wrong here, because for someone who is all PC like me, violent and senseless acts of terror pale in comparison to the ultimate sin of buying toilet paper at the House that Sam Built.

 

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 1:18:00 PM  annamaria said...

Oh, and can I just add that every time I look at the picture at the top of the post, I think the kid is holding a really big pickle!

 

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 1:33:00 PM  Kurt said...

Now them's fightin' words ID ;-)
I belong to Texas now too! Did you notice that a neighbor of W's has invited Camp Casey to move onto their property and get off the side of the road in Crawford?
See, people in Texas can disagree and still be polite.
Unless you happen to be black and in Jasper and run into a young male between the ages of 17 and 40 who has a pickup and a chain...
That guy had to be a Muslim according to h/her logic, right?

 

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 2:29:00 PM  ID said...

Oops. Sorry Kurt.

Texas is ok. You guys have Austin and produce killer toast.

However, I do abhor one Texas standout at the moment. No not W, Cedric Benson. Sign your friggin' contract already.

Someday the EFF is going to come to this blog and be pissed. Or someone will just get pissed about someone's opinion on something and let the EFF's name leak out in an act of defiance.

 

at Wednesday, August 17, 2005 4:09:00 PM  Dane meets Simone said...

Man, Ian really knows how to pull a girl outta the woodwork.

I'm actually going to Texas tomorrow, so I'm trying to prepare for that lovely moment when the plane lands at D/FW and all around me is nothing but sun and cement. Thank God for the drive to bumfuck later that day cuz I'll get a great sunset in a sky that goes on forever.

Let me also say that I've known my fair share of huggy angel email forwarding assholes. You can't reason w/them. You can only bond with one another over their stupidity (which, being from Texas, is a particular skill of mine).

 

Post a Comment