I agree and it was my same thought when I first read this quote. But then again, I’m a nervous flier. If I saw someone do something unusual on a plane, I would be a little freaked out, regardless of what they looked like. Not sure if two ‘brown’ men spending a long time in the can qualifies as unusual and if it does, then what is the proper response??
The line between safety and insanity just keeps shifting.
I think the scariest part of this is that even as a US citizen you have no idea what your rights are if they decide to take you off a plane and detain you. Can you refuse to answer questions? What if you don’t want to show them what you just tweeted? How long can they detain you? Do any Miranda rights apply?
Can you refuse to answer questions?
I guess if you really like how your cell looks, sure.
You’re delusional. “The racial angle?” As in, “the reason this happened to them?” Officious nonsensical kafkaesque security theatre horseshit does sometimes crush little old white ladies too but the idea that this wasn’t “racial” is… I don’t want to turn this back on you too aggressively, but close to obnoxious in its indifference to racism. “OK, yeah this person was put through misery and humiliation and had her social contract violated because of her ethnicity - but that’s not what’s important.”
The whole reason why the woman and men were picked was because they weren’t white. It’s entirely about race, unless you think that two white men going the bathroom at different times on a flight would somehow create suspicion. This particular case is about race.
Now if you want to talk about the “larger picture”, then this whole situation was created by the moronic stupidity by an American public that gave in to fear. Now there’s lots of money involved, so that fear is now institutionalized and promoted by big businesses who get to sell their shitty products to keep us all “safe”, though they do no such thing. And who do they keep us safe from? The evil brown people who want to kill us. It’s all about fear and control, but race is used to perpetuate that fear.
All I’ll say is that she handled it better than I would have.
Are you sure you’re a real person?
“OK, yeah this person was put through misery and humiliation and had her [Jesus Christ, come on] violated because of her ethnicity - but that’s not what’s important.”
What’s important is to make sure this never happens again. To do that in our ponderously slow political system, you need all American citizens to listen and learn about what is happening. If they think they’re safe because they’re not brown, nothing will change.
Yes it’s cathartic to shake our heads at bigots, but I’d rather fix the problem. I believe making it about race is a strategic error because it limits the potential audience, as much as you’d prefer that not to be the case in reality. I would too but that’s a cultural problem. Let’s fix what we actually have a chance to fix from the top down – the security theater bureaucracy.
Thanks for the link though, Hans. I got it up on LRC. Except he didn’t think of a better title than my hastily constructed subject line. Dammit Lew.
[EDIT] Okay now he’s changed it to play up the first responders angle. Well that’s not what’s important either, but whatever. At least the story’s up.
Are you sure you’re a real person?
I didn’t feel like starting a flamewar or making it any more personal than it had to be as I told you that you just trivialized racism because, hey, the bigger picture is it could happen to white people.
Is your broader gripe important? Yeah. Do I agree with it? Yeah. Did you dismiss and telescope the significance of the racism here? 100%.
Yeah, social contract violated. Goonery is especially hateful to me when it makes people feel like their whole idea of citizenship and community belonging is a revocable sham the minute their skin colour scares a moron.
I suppose if I’m arguing about playing something smart tactically to effect change, I should practice what I preach. Sorry, I just get impatient sometimes.
Eh, likewise actually. It was the racism aspect that more directly infuriated me here but the broader tolerance for and normalization of this sort of thuggery is what makes that sort of story possible.
Wait…so, the thing I really don’t understand is: the plane landed safely at its destination…and then they pulled these people aside and searched them? What did they think they were accomplishing, other than harassing people for no damn reason? Maybe somebody should tell the TSA that airplane hijackings usually take place while the plane is in the air.
But maybe they flew on the plane with their bombs and suspiciously sat next to each other because they were planning to bomb a bus…
I read the comments.
(I always forget the first rule of the internet. Never read the comments.)
Lots of incredibly asinine observations about how her comments regarding southerners, the weight of her captors and country music is hurtful. My favorite, though, would have to be be from this charmer who posted:
He’s so darn upset he went over to his own amazing blog (Ron Paul 2012, folks) and made his own post about it. I think it’s kind of adorable that when people come on to his blog and tell him what a cretin he is he acts all hurt as if the notion of someone being rude on the internet is shocking to him.
Judaism is a religion. Arabic is an ethnicity. One can, in fact, be 100% Jewish and 100% Arab.
DOTH THE MIND NOT BOGGLE?
Well, I guess that’s one guy that won’t be helping us against the TSA. So much for defending liberty.
Well, religious studies 101 tends to mention that it’s complicated. Which isn’t to dispute that the second part of the statement is true.
The conventional wisdom that I’ve repeatedly heard is that you shouldn’t say anything without getting a lawyer first.
I can appreciate that it’s a tough call in a situation like this, though. They can spin it around to make it seem suspicious; “They just wanted to ask some questions, why would he need to run for a lawyer if he’s got nothing to hide…” It would definitely drag it out even longer, and possibly make your treatment even harsher since you’re being a ‘troublemaker’. And exactly what situations does the right to silence cover, exactly? You’re not a legal expert, you don’t know what all the little gotchas are. If you remain silent, and it turns out it’s not a covered situation, could you wind up getting charged with something like obstruction of justice? Now you’re imagining the headlines, “Suspected terrorist arrested at airport…”
It’s certainly not a situation I’d want to be in…
The thing is though, that you probably agreed to waive a bunch of rights as a condition of flying. A similar situation arises with driving. I believe you can (in California) legally refuse a roadside breathalyzer, but doing so makes you forfeit your license. I imagine there are similar horrible things going on with air travel but I don’t know what they are.
The biggest surprise was the strip search. I did a quick Google check on my state laws and it only prohibited them on simple misdemeanors and such. Scary, assuming she didn’t inadvertently submit to it.
Wow.
Wow.