240,000 dollars awarded to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

DaemonSeid · #1 01-06-2009, 10:38 AM

NEW YORK (AFP) – An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090106...s_090106002219

preciousjeni · #2 01-06-2009, 02:20 PM

I cheered when I read it.

ETA: Some people are just plain dumb. Case in point:

Quote:

...an Arabic-inscribed T-shirt in an airport was like "wearing a T-shirt at a bank stating, I am a robber...

ThetaPrincess24 · #3 01-06-2009, 02:55 PM

I have mixed feelings.

PM_Mama00 · #4 01-06-2009, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThetaPrincess24

I have mixed feelings.

I do too. Because why is it necessary to wear a shirt, in Arabic that many people cannot understand, that says "We will not be silent". Who is "we" and why won't you "be silent"? What is the silence about? That shit just makes people nervous and I'm sorry, call me racist but if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

KSig RC · #5 01-06-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I do too. Because why is it necessary to wear a shirt, in Arabic that many people cannot understand, that says "We will not be silent". Who is "we" and why won't you "be silent"? What is the silence about? That shit just makes people nervous and I'm sorry, call me racist but if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

You're racist.

AOII Angel · #6 01-06-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I do too. Because why is it necessary to wear a shirt, in Arabic that many people cannot understand, that says "We will not be silent". Who is "we" and why won't you "be silent"? What is the silence about? That shit just makes people nervous and I'm sorry, call me racist but if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

The shirt was obviously not meant for you to understand. "We will not be silent" I assume refers to arabs (american and non-american) who won't remain silent, hide or avoid the spotlight so that we (non-arabs) won't feel nervous. He has a right to wear any shirt he wants as long as it doesn't say, "I have a bomb, and I'm going to blow up this airplane!" Unfortunately, the acts of a few extremists has made it okay to discriminate against everyone that speaks arabic. I wish the guy had been awarded more so that people would actually think twice about this issue!

PM_Mama00 · #7 01-06-2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

The shirt was obviously not meant for you to understand. "We will not be silent" I assume refers to arabs (american and non-american) who won't remain silent, hide or avoid the spotlight so that we (non-arabs) won't feel nervous. He has a right to wear any shirt he wants as long as it doesn't say, "I have a bomb, and I'm going to blow up this airplane!" Unfortunately, the acts of a few extremists has made it okay to discriminate against everyone that speaks arabic. I wish the guy had been awarded more so that people would actually think twice about this issue!

How would you know what it said? This guy was looking for attention.

DaemonSeid · #8 01-06-2009, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I do too. Because why is it necessary to wear a shirt, in Arabic that many people cannot understand, that says "We will not be silent". Who is "we" and why won't you "be silent"? What is the silence about? That shit just makes people nervous and I'm sorry, call me racist but if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

wow....talk about profiling....

KSigkid · #9 01-06-2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I do too. Because why is it necessary to wear a shirt, in Arabic that many people cannot understand, that says "We will not be silent". Who is "we" and why won't you "be silent"? What is the silence about? That shit just makes people nervous and I'm sorry, call me racist but if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

Your feelings don't seem so mixed.

At first glance I thought the amount seemed a bit high, but people have won a lot more at trial for mental anguish claims.

DrPhil · #10 01-07-2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

if I was at an airport and saw someone, whatever they look like Arab or not, wearing this shirt I'd be nervous.

I don't believe that you'd be nervous regardless of how the wearer looks.

AOII Angel · #11 01-06-2009, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

NEW YORK (AFP) – which had written on it in Arabic: "We will not be silent."

Well...he warned them!

Senusret I · #12 01-06-2009, 06:49 PM

*sigh*

agzg · #13 01-06-2009, 07:06 PM

I make it my personal mission to wear shirts that say "I don't wipe my ass when I shit" on every plane I've ever been on. People get very nervous.

AOII Angel · #14 01-06-2009, 10:06 PM

I think my main point really is that just because you are nervous doesn't mean that the person that makes you nervous has to give up his/her civil rights so that you are more comfortable. Get used to being uncomfortable in this world. You'd be amazed how many bad things are done by people that no one ever would suspect...remember Jeffrey Dahmer?

DrPhil · #15 01-07-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I think my main point really is that just because you are nervous doesn't mean that the person that makes you nervous has to give up his/her civil rights so that you are more comfortable. Get used to being uncomfortable in this world. You'd be amazed how many bad things are done by people that no one ever would suspect...remember Jeffrey Dahmer?

Exactly.

Terrorist attacks are a relative rarity, even moreso than the generally infrequent interracial homicide. But people's fears aren't based on the probability of being victimized. They are based on the perceived monstrosity of the incident and a fear of "the other." This is moreso the case with whites' fear of being victimized by blacks and many Americans' fears of being victimized by people of East Indian descent.

Realistically, people should be most fearful of those who look like them and of those who spend the most time around them, specifically family, friends, and personal and professional acquaintances. That sounds too much like right, though.