I work in an airport as a screener. This requires me to confront people of all ethnicities and genders. We are required to treat each and every person equally. We do not treat middle-easterner’s any different than a white male. Even though many comedians have made a living saying that middle-easterner’s get discriminated against in an airport, it simply isn’t true. When I approach someone that is wearing a turban I do not feel any discomfort at all in explaining that the turban needs to be removed for the screening process. It isn’t discrimination, it is policy. We cannot tell if something may be wrapped up in there.1
There is one occasion where I do feel uncomfortable though. I ask many men and women everyday to remove their jacket and/or bulky sweater due to my inability to see the contours of their body. This means there could be an item located there that I am unable to see due to the bulk. Whenever an African-American approaches me wearing one of those giant hooded sweatshirts I immediately feel uncomfortable. This I blame to the fact that the American culture has pushed so far that white men are racists that I fear they will think I am discriminating against them.2
In these situations I begin to ask myself “Do they think I am treating them unfairly?” “Are they going to get upset because I’m asking them to remove their sweatshirt?” This feeling transpires to more situations than just the workplace though. Unfortunately, I get this feeling in most of my encounters with African-American’s. Who can blame me though? Whenever a white man does something racist it gets spun into this huge ordeal and yet white men accept racial comments from other ethnicities without any recourse. Just look at some of the popular comedians such as D.L. Hughley who have made a career off of black & white jokes. I don't wish to go into the multiple accounts of white men being labeled racist that we have seen in the media but we all know that once you are labeledu, you are done for. I do wish to ask you one question about this predicament though…3
Are we any better now than we were forty years ago if we have to live in fear? Fear of being politically incorrect or fear of being thought of as a racist? 4
Remember this affects more than just white males. This is just racism from my perspective.
Author notes
Do not take me wrong in this piece, I am not racist in anyway. In my life through school and work I have made friends that are of all different ethinicities.
A contest entry
- A Little Bit of Controversy by yumesandman.
220 points, ended January 27, 2008, 9 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Give it to me hard, no holds barred.
Comments
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As long as you know in your heart that you are doing right, then don't worry about those people.
They will always find some excuse to blame other people for their own ineptitude. -
I think this is a great perspective that a lot of us don't get to see very often, not just from the white male point of view but from the airline screener point of view. It was well written, and covered a rather controversial side of things without going anywhere near racist.
What I would have liked to see were examples. Have you ever had someone give you grief about having to take off their sweatshirt? Has there been any reactions at all? Something about that would have been a nice touch.
But other than that, I think it's done well and is great food for thought. Great job! -
this is a very good piece! You showed exactly how everyone IS treated equally in this country, whether they think so or not. I completely agree, society makes everybody immeadiatly think that we or someone else could be racist, with something as little as a thought. But this is really great I enjoyed this a lot!
Illuminated *KT*
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Your piece immediately grabs me. Such an interesting topic, and well-written intro.
"In these situations I begin to ask myself[,] “Do they think I am treating them unfairly?” “Are they going to get upset because I’m asking them to remove their sweatshirt[s]?"
I think you may want punctuation here (for clarity's sake). You also need to make sweatshirts plural, I think. In the next sentence, you need a comma between workplace and though.
"African-American’s"
No need for the apostrophe
"Who can blame me[,] though"
"Whenever a white man does something racist it gets spun into this huge ordeal[,] and yet white men accept racial comments from other ethnicities without any recourse."
"some of the popular comedians[,] such as D.L. Hughley[,] who have"
"that once you are labeledu"
oops, I know you meant labeled
"Remember[,] this affects more than just white males."
I actually really like this piece -- it comes off as sincere and is decently written. However, the lack of commas really distracted me and made it a little harder to read. May I suggest looking over some comma rules, or even just reading your work outloud and noticing where you pause in your speech? I think that could only make you better!
Thanks for a thought-provoking read; I definitely have something to ponder from this.
annye
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i completely understand what you are saying. The government, media and other sources alike all push the limit towards white/caucasian people as being racist which then makes us seem even worse if we do one thing that is not intentional as a derogatory thing in any way. I am not racist, but I completely understand that things get distorted by other people's interpretations of the actions and discourses that others take/make when the most simple and innocent intentions were meant.
Well done on being able to express your view in a really well-written way! awesome job. -
I understand what your getting at. Yeah we shouldn't have to worry about being racist, and the only way to stop doing that is to really not to make a big deal about it. But then it's hard not to when your thinking about it. Sorry if I don't make sense. lol.
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Well, first off be prepared for some angry comments. People will misunderstand you. Secondly, I agree. I am not a racist in anyway and anyone who knows me would know that. However, whenever I see an African-American I always think "is what I am doing in some way going to make them think I'm a racist?" and then I think "is me thinking that making me a racist?" I think society makes us worry too much. I think people get offended too easily and are too quick to announce someone as a racist. Most likely someone is going to read your story and think you are saying racism is okay just because they want to take it that way.
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