Muslims Booted from Airtran Flight

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/01/family.grounded/index.html

Yesterday, several Muslims were booted off an Airtran flight and questioned by the FBI, after some scared passengers reported them. It appears that some of them had been discussing the safest place to sit on an airplane (i.e. the wing, the engine, the front or the back). There were no mentions of suspicious words such as bomb, explosion, or terror. However, some passengers overheard those casual comments and construed them as something else.

The FBI was called in to question them, everyone on board had to go through the security check again, and the Muslims were not allowed to reschedule for a flight even after the FBI cleared them of all suspicious activity. In fact, the FBI even tried to get Airtran to give them tickets, but the airline refused.

I wonder at the logic of those scared passengers. If those Muslims were really terrorists, then why would they talk about parts of their plan on the plane? Also, why would they worry about sitting in the safest part of the plane? If the plane was going to crash, wouldn't all parts of the plane be mortally dangerous? In the past, Muslim terrorists were expecting to die on the plane, not looking for the safest place to sit.

I feel bad that this family would have to endure such trouble for casual comments. Perhaps they should have been more careful, but why were they being so carefully watched and scrutinized in the first place? Most ignore the conversations going on around them on a crowded plane. The fact that some would hang on the words of a Muslim could indicate a bit of "self-preservation" racism.

I myself have been convicted of this "self-preservation" racism. In other words, a person might not be outright racist or hate another race, but they might be fearful of some or part of a race. This fearfulness is part of a "self-preservation" instinct.

As for myself, I have never had any dislike or fear towards Asians or Latinos, and I didn't have too much of a problem living in a poor Hispanic area. However, I have wrestled with feelings of fear over living in a poor African American area. I love black people, but in the past I have thought, "I have been accosted by black people on the streets, but never an Asian or Latino." It is wrong and racist of me, however, to be scared of living in a Black area because of what an individual might have done to me. Furthermore, if God is calling me to an area, then that is the safest place for me.