To summarize, a middle aged black musician was flying from Boston to DC. He was reading a book about WWII era airplanes. The plane was stopped before takeoff, and police came onboard, and after asking him a few questions, they continued on (delaying his trip and costing him some major inconvenience/extra expenses). He felt frightened and humiliated, and was deeply distraught.
In the comments in some of the articles reporting it, many readers don’t think it’s racial profiling- they think it was about the fact that he was reading a book about airplanes, and an extremely minor disagreement he had with a flight attendant.
It’s hard to know for sure what was in the minds of the flight crew that decided he needed law enforcement attention, but based on the account it seems likely he was racially profiled to me. What do you think?
Oh, yes. He was under suspicion for reading about airplanes while having brown skin, in a nation that equates brown skin with “Muslim terrorist”. Just look at all the people who are sure that Obama is a “Secret Muslim” and terrorist sympathizer.
It doesn’t sound so much like racial profiling as it does hysteria and ignorance over his reading materials. I have no idea why a book about old planes would throw up red flags, but it seems more likely it was that rather than the fact that he’s black.
I’d be interested in more details on this, because it’s all crazy-sounding to me.
I don’t see how it was anything but racial profiling. He’s right that the white woman sitting next to him wouldn’t have been harassed. The flight attendent sounds like a hysterical, racist little bitch. She should be fired, and this guy should sue the airline into bankruptcy.
Since when are black passengers ever racially profiled as potential risks? Isn’t it painfully obvious that it’s Arabs (well, Middle Easterners and people who look like them) who have come in for increased scrutiny on planes ever since 9/11? I’ve never even heard anyone talk about the issue of black airline passengers being racially profiled. Every time I’m at an airport, it seems like the vast majority of the security people are themselves black. It’s not like airport security personnel are sheriffs from 1960s Alabama.
The idea that this incident had to do with the man’s race is absurd. If he was Arab, I’d buy it. Black? No.
Not enough info. Don’t know why we would assume that he was targeted because he’s black. Maybe I’m naive–among the indignities blacks are forced to endure through racism (both overt and more subtle), is there an assumption that they are going to blow up planes?
I’m not getting why that would be the assumption, but maybe I’m missing something. My reaction based on this guy’s account is that it’s absolutely bizarre. A black guy reading a book on airplanes is a terrorist? I don’t get it.
All of the Muslim/Terrorist shit with Obama has much more to do with his cultural factors than his “race”. I mean, his first and middle names are Arabic, his father was raised Muslim and his stepfather was from a Muslim country. It’s still ridiculous, but I wouldn’t say it’s because he’s black. If we had a Democratic president who was black, born in Baltimore or Atlanta, with a typical African-American name, I am sure there would be plenty of racist bullshit thrown at him just like there is with Obama, but it’s unlikely that terrorism or Islam would be part of it.
A question of moving his carry-on luggage, (while polite, he declined her offer that would have resulted in her handling his bag), combined with a clueless stew who saw a book on planes is more than enough to bring on this incident without any ethnic, (black or Arab), aspects.
Was the incident pretty dumb and does it reflect a lot of the stupidity that has infected the country in the last 9 3/4 years? Yep.
Is it possible that Mr. Vance’s skin color played a part in the anxiety of the stew? It is possible.
Barring additional aspects of the event that have not yet come to light, there is no need to trumpet “racism” as the the cause. We really do not know that a blonde white guy would have been treated differently.
After seeing his picture, yes, I agree his appearance probably played a big role. The beard doesn’t do him any favors (I mean, with the kind of idiots who think that “beard” equals “terrorist.”)
I certainly don’t deny it exists, but going from the information in the man’s letter, and not knowing what he looks like, it didn’t seem like the most obvious explanation for what happened. Now that I’ve seen his picture, I’m more inclined to agree.
Regardless of the reason, it was bs that he got singled out like that, and it’s evident that the TSA is out-of-control and fear and hysteria rule air travel these days.
I wouldn’t say profiling simply for technicalities, i.e. there doesn’t seem to be a method or set of reasons. Dumb people, dumb and scared people and flying while Arab-looking (and therefore Arabs-are-all-suspicious).
Two days on the beach and a week without shaving and I have Al-Qaeda written on my face, even being white guy.
Yep, agreed entirely. How anyone could think this incident must have been a case of racial profiling is beyond me (well, it’s not really, given that I know how some people think, but you know what I mean). Some people will reach for anything to hang their “racism is everywhere” hat on.
Dio, here’s a challenge: come up with an argument for why this incident must have involved racial profiling that does not exhibit the same thinking used in most arguments for the existence of god. So far you’ve got “it must have been, that’s the only possible explanation,” which is a faith-based position that fails this challenge.
