On September 12, 2001, I remember speaking with a few of my neighbors about the previous day's tragedies. Some of us were sad, some of us were angry, all of us were appalled. "I know it's not their fault," a middle-aged woman named Liz said, "but if one of those Muslims wants to move here, don't expect me to welcome them."
We were all still in the heat of the moment. In our New York City suburb, many of us had lost a friend or a family member. People act irrationally when they're experiencing that level of emotional trauma. It's common, it's expected and it's forgiven.
But now it's 2009. All rashness should have faded away over the seven years and change that have passed. Why, then, was a Muslim family kicked off an airplane in a situation where no white family would?
Atif Irfan and seven of his extended family members were booted from an AirTran Airlines flight on New Year's Day because passengers reported overhearing a conversation that raised security concerns. But the family didn't use any words that would raise a red flag (like bomb, explosion or terror). No, they just discussed which seats would be safest.
It was just a general safety discussion, Irfan told CNN's Mike M. Ahlers.
The FBI cleared the family of all wrongdoing, but it shouldn't take a national intelligence organization to realize that. "Do you think it would be safest to sit by the wing?" isn't code for "Which seat gives us the best chance of survival if we blow this thing up?"
And when the FBI told the airline that the safety concerns lacked merit, the airline refused to rebook the family for another flight. "They told us that we can't fly their airline," Irfan told CNN.
Here comes the truly revolting part: Although 75% of respondents in an AOL webpoll agree that the family was treated differently because of their religion, 55% still say that AirTran acted appropriately. Essentially, respondents said, "This was an act of bigotry, and we applaud that."
Where does our nation stand when we accept this type of discrimination based on religion and ethnicity? Even the election of the first minority president doesn't cancel out the hatred that continues to flow through the veins of so many Americans.
"We are proud Americans," one of the family members said. "We decided to have our children and raise them here. We can very easily go anywhere we want in the world, but we love it here and we're not going to go away, no matter what."
Good. You shouldn't have to.
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