IN THE past three weeks since the attacks on our native soil, Arab-Americans have not had it easy. For years, their racial community and anyone with racial resemblance to them have at times been met with aversion. With attacks on people of their ethnicity now topping 300 documented instances since Sept. 11, the problem has only grown worse.
There have been many alarming acts of violence committed against Arab-Americans in the past few weeks. For instance, an Arab-American in Detroit was shot by a man who wanted revenge for the attacks. In a similar incident, a Pakistani woman was also almost run over by a man who blamed her for destroying his country. Instances like these range from actual murder to desecration of mosques to racial slurs. Such open and random violence against our own citizens is deplorable and a disgrace to what America stands for.
However, a more subtle kind of discrimination besides blatant violence has taken place against Arab-Americans. While this type of discrimination does not incur physical harm to the victim, it does do damage to the psyche and pride of the ethnicity as a whole. This type of discrimination is the racial profiling that is taking place on airplanes. It is an embarrassment to our country, and as all of our international airports begin to open back up, these discriminatory practices must stop in order for us to unite and heal.
Unfair racial profiling against Arab-Americans in airports can be traced back to the 1995 crash of TWA Flight 800 into the waters off Long Island. Following this tragedy, there was a great deal of speculation concerning the involvement of terrorists in the crash. As a result, the Gore Commission was formed. Headed by former Vice President Al Gore, it sought to weed out terrorism by critically searching suspicious characters. It specifically targeted certain characteristics of terrorists, such as paying for tickets with cash or only buying a one-way ticket. Suspects would be searched in full view of the public. This system, although designed with the safety of Americans in mind, has been seen by Arab-American groups to be a loophole for racial profiling. This act's reputation was not improved by the Commission's guidelines of conduct, which involved searching and questioning those with Arabic sounding names. Thus, even before bags were searched, certain individuals were already suspected of foul play.
On Sept. 21, three Arab-Americans, who had been thoroughly checked and legitimized by security, were expelled from a plane. Although they posed no danger to the people traveling, they were not allowed to fly when other passengers refused to stay on board. Another related incident on the same day involved two Pakistani businessmen in Orlando. Although they passed security, they were refused entry when the pilot said that he did not want to fly them(www.adc.org, Sept. 21, Press Release).
These events were segregating and humiliating to the people in question, and no thought was ever given as to how their heritage was being insulted. It's the ultimate hypocrisy of American ideals to say that our country is a haven of freedom while at the same time judging people based on superficial grounds. People who believe that such actions will make our country safe are only fooling themselves. Targeting those who originate from the same region of the world as the terrorists is ludicrous, and if anything, it will breed resentment where none had existed previously. To pull through this tragedy, America has to unite, and the first way to do this is to stop presuming that certain individuals are guilty until proven innocent.
Friday, for the first time since the tragedy, planes flew out of Ronald Reagan Netional Airport in Washington, D.C. President Bush has encouraged a return to the way things were. However, as optimistic as that sounds, America cannot return to the way things were as long as people continue to harass and violate the rights of our citizens and foreigners who support America. Although the airline has since apologized for its actions, we must make sure something like this never happens again. Expelling someone from a plane based solely on his or her looks was never a part of the past way of life that America desires to regain.
The paranoia must stop, because this sense of division will be America's downfall. This country's so-called melting pot was created based on the fact that all races and creeds could live together in harmony without fear. If we cannot create this unity, then we no longer are a "land of the free" or a "home of the brave." Rather, we are breeding resentment in our own backyard. Americans should not worry about every Arab-American in the airport being a terrorist; instead, Americans should worry about not being as racially motivated and angry as the terrorists who attacked us were.
(Kevin James Wong is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer.)
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