(First time poster)

Last Tuesday, I went to the Washington Nationals game. I decided to take the metro to avoid all the traffic, and on my ride home, I had an interesting experience.

First, let me say that I'm a minority and I'm young. I can tell a lot of people assume I'm up to trouble, but just the opposite; I'm a military vet and I work hard for a living.

Anyways, a man of Middle Eastern descent sat down next to me. He was carrying a book bag and was sweating really bad (it's been real humid here lately). I didn't think anything of it but I noticed that everyone in the area was staring the man down, and I mean that literally. There was a woman across from him that would not take her eyes off of him, like she suspected him of something.

I could tell that this was bothering the man, but could also tell that it was something he was used to. Anyways, I finally got upset at all of the people staring at him, so I tapped the guy on the shoulder and said "how do you put up with this?" Right away the man smiled and said that he understood where they were coming from.

But then the said the following, and in a voice loud enough for everyone around him to hear:

"I understand why people are suspicious of a Middle Eastern man with a book bag on the metro. I guess I would be too with all that's going on. But what everyone needs to realize, is that I'm at risk too. We Muslims aren't given radios that tell us what places to avoid and when, and I seriously doubt a would-be terrorist is going to hop from train to train in hopes of finding one that doesn't have any Muslims on it. I'm at just as much a risk as everyone on this train."

I nodded at his response and looked at everyone else that was staring at him. Most of them seemed taken back by his response and stopped staring at him. He got off a couple of stops later.

What's my point? After he exited the train, a man sitting in front of me turned around and said "you can't trust anything those people say." I said "why should I believe anything you say?" And went on reading my book. But as I thought about it, I realized that a majority of people in this country feel like this man does and that's really scary.

Before anyone says it, I'm not a Muslim or sympathizer or anything like that. I just think we, as a whole, need to educate ourselves better and understand what's going on before we make rash judgements.

Welcome to the forum.

I can only imagine how hard it is to be an arab looking person living in the US (esp. where arab looking people are rare), but people do have reasons to be wary considering the attacks that occurred around the world.

The war on terror will likely be a long one and arab looking people are just going to have to understand that people are concerned and take any rude comments and gestures with a grain of salt.

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"George W. Bush surrounds himself with smart people the way a hole surrounds itself with a donut." —Dennis Miller

I can understand the stares and stuff, but not the comment the guy made about "trusting those people." I think it shows the ignorance of a lot of people. I'm lucky; I was in Kuwait and got a chance to learn about Muslims from Muslims.

Especially because "they" are part of "us." Muslims and Middle Easterners are quite as likely to be U.S. citizens as anyone else.

It's the age-old problem of being a minority. An act by a black man, say, is taken to be representative of blacks, while a similar act by a white man is never considered representative of whites.

And when the worry is that the person might be carrying a bomb, it's harder than ever to practice tolerance.

Over on another thread I did some math, arriving at the result that your chance of dying in a terrorist attack here in the States is about 0.00008% a year. Certain areas (mass transit, large cities, landmark buildings) are at higher risk, but if people would just keep that number in mind, perhaps they wouldn't get so apprehensive whenever they see a Muslim. They're more likely to get run over by the train they're riding than get blown up.

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Man up.

is one of the things I have so disliked about this administration; their attitudes strongly encouraged this kind of thinking following 9-11. When this nation needed strength and a cool head, they deliberately stoked the desire for revenge and it's subsequent xenophobia - for their own political ends. I was disgusted to see it, and worse, to see so many of my fellow countryment succumb to it; many gleefully.

I am not a particular fan of Blair's, either, but I do appreciate his calm responses to emergencies. Anything less is not worthy of someone in a leadership position.

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'Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules' -unknown

Anyone who agrees with this stupid racial profiling is stupid. Since 9/11 the thought of me actually being a victim of a terrorist attack has never once popped in my head other then when they had to reroute a plane bound for Alaska to here in Whitehorse because they had fears they thought terrorists could be on it. I sometimes worry about slipping on ice, getting hit by a car, getting stabbed over a stupid squable but never terrorists.

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It is more patriotic when you don't ask questions

...whether I agree with you or disagree with you on various topics, you'll have my respect.

Most people either try to keep a low profile or go along with the herd in tense situations. Why? Because they're basically sheep and that's the safe way to be. But you went the other way and opposed the herd! So I offer you a big and say, welcome to the board!

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

Thanks .

This quote would be even more interesting if it were true; "strongly encouraged this kind of thinking" and "deliberately stoked"? I have never heard encouragement from the administration, only admonishment when it comes to cultural hate.

As evident in the 9/11 attacks excessive government tolerance to violent extremists is deadly. Even if it only kills .00103448% of the U.S. population. The U.S. acted with strength and a cool head.

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"Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame."

-Laurence J. Peter

I have to agree with NewMexico on this one. Before the administration even had any information as to who was responsible for the attacks or even why they promised blood. Given America's extensive record of invading countries, I am honestly surprised an attack like this didn't happen sooner (not saying it was justified by any means). As far encouraging fear of your run of the mill americans arabs goes, they not have encouraged it per say but they deffinately did not go to any lengths to discourage it.

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It is more patriotic when you don't ask questions