A kid on my Facebook friends posted tonight about Juan Williams, and how he was only demonstrating "freedom of speech" and that it was a violation of his rights to fire him. I replied with basically "nobody's DENYING his rights to say what he wants, but they're demonstrating the consequences of being intolerant."
He replies with:
"Would you not agree that, for even a split second, if you were in a plane and someone in muslim garb was sitting next to you, you wouldn't be afraid?"
I can honestly say that it wouldn't cross my mind for a SECOND to be afraid. It really, really wouldn't. Even though I do have stereotypes of Middle Easterns, they're definitely not of the "terrorist" variety. Not that a stereotype is ever a good thing, and I'm not proud of it, but I certainly don't consider another culture to be dangerous because of something some extremists did ten years ago. :\
Maybe that's what sets me apart from some of my American friends. I don't know. It made me sad though. I asked a friend about it, and she said she WOULD have that same reaction of fear for about a split second, before common reason set in. She said it's probably because of the media, and the fact that she can think of at least 10 "terrorist warning" signs near her home.
That's why, for all the time I spend in VT, I'll probably never actually move to America. But, we'll see where life takes me, because I'll probably go wherever Adam is, if he doesn't follow me first. ♥
Speaking of which, we're celebrating our "official" (when we went public) one year anniversary in 3 weeks. :) We're hoping to actually spend it together, though we won't know for a few days if that's possible.
I should go to bed, going shopping with my dad in Maine tomorrow! /cheer
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