Exercise Caution: NO HATE CRIMES

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praying4MD

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I realize tensions are high right now and people are angry, and rightfully so. I am angry as well. I cannot comprehend the true magnitude of this even now. The loss of life is stunning and all I can do is sit here in complete awe of what is going on. My sincerent sympathies to everyone affected.

But I beg of you to PLEASE think before you act out that anger. The backlash of hatecrimes has begun. Hate mail is pouring in. 2 girls dead in chicago. 1 police brutality in Houston. I don't know how many more elsewhere.

To those who look remotely Middle Eastern (this includes Greeks, Turks, Some Hispanics, basically could mean anyone): Don't go out unless necessary and don't flaunt yourself. Abide by all laws, (drive 5 under speed limit), if possible take a caucasian friend with you if going out at night, etc.

Remember that the perpetrators are evil people but EVERYONE in America is hurting right now, regardless of their skin color or religion. I truly cannot fathom how the victims or their families are coping and I am in shock. May God find a way out for them and may they persevere through this with dignity and honor. My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families. There will be a way out of this tragedy if we are all united and stick together through it. We will overcome evil and hatred and Americans will come out of this with honor. Sympathies to all those still waiting and I hope everything turns out for the best and you hear good news soon.

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I didn't think it was possible, but reading your post has made my heart sink even lower. :(
 
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My neighbors are Palestinians and now they don't even dare to step out of their house! :( I've talked to several other neighbors and I'm glad that they're all very understanding. We all agreed that during this time we should all keep our composure and try our best to help, not to make the situation any worse.
 
Thank you so much, praying4MD. I'm Turkish but thankfully look as white as any European person. When this tragedy happened I couldn't help but feel that we were placed at the start of a long and hard road downhill for quite a long time. The thought of a World War III is beyond comprehensible for me. And the inevitable backlash of anger from citizens of this country made me feel physically ill. It makes my heart sink into oblivion to think that people in such a melting pot of a nation are placing blanketing statements on entire racial groups based on what fanatics are doing to innocent people. Most Middle Eastern people don't judge Christians on what, say, the Inquisition did. Those were actions of fanatics. I ask you: how are the ignorant stereotypes that Muslims are getting any better than the actions of the ignorant terrorists? PLEASE don't let hatred divide this country and the rest of the world. Don't let them win that way because it's what they want. Always remember those that were lost but remain optimistic for the future. Use this as an opportunity to realize how precious life is, be thankful for what you have, and send your love and condolences to those around you. Above all else, be it religion, socioeconomic status, race etc, we're all human together and they can't that away from us.
 
MCWannabe, I agree with you. I heard quite a lot of commentators and politicians comparing this tragedy to Pearl Harbor. If we wanted to draw analogy between this and WWII, let's not also forget the painful lesson we learned from the internment of Japanese Americans druing WWII.
 
Originally posted by MDwannabe:
•Thank you so much, praying4MD... When this tragedy happened I couldn't help but feel that we were placed at the start of a long and hard road downhill for quite a long time... the inevitable backlash of anger from citizens of this country made me feel physically ill. It makes my heart sink into oblivion to think that people in such a melting pot of a nation are placing blanketing statements on entire racial groups based on what fanatics are doing to innocent people. Most Middle Eastern people don't judge Christians on what, say, the Inquisition did. Those were actions of fanatics. I ask you: how are the ignorant stereotypes that Muslims are getting any better than the actions of the ignorant terrorists? PLEASE don't let hatred divide this country and the rest of the world. Don't let them win that way because it's what they want. Always remember those that were lost but remain optimistic for the future. Use this as an opportunity to realize how precious life is, be thankful for what you have, and send your love and condolences to those around you. Above all else, be it religion, socioeconomic status, race etc, we're all human together and they can't that away from us.•
Very well said MDwannabe. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Why can't people understand that people of ALL faiths, colors and ethnicities died yesterday? Considering NYC is probably the most diverse city in the US, I'm sure people all over the world have relatives or friends that have been affected by this.

It will only hurt the US to start creating barriers within its own citizens. All Americans are hurting right now and its our job to help them in any way we can, not make their life hell, or God forbid, end their life because of the color of their skin. That is exactly what the terrorists want to happen. Let's not let them succeed.
 
unfortunately so, I have heard of college beatings in Illinois i believe. I also have heard of many arab death threats in the large communities of Detroit.
 
Originally posted by Accept_me:
•I am also as white as they come with a Lebanese last name. I just hope when/if I fly to NY in two weeks I don't get some extra flack from security or something. •

For the past two days classes weren't cancelled here at main campus Penn State. Profs were free to use class time for whatever they wanted, however. Because I'm a psych major we had pseudo-therapy sessions with our psych profs conducting discussion groups. I heard some nasty Anti-Arab stuff. But it warmed my heart to hear how many people were understanding and sympathetic with the vast majority of Arabs in this country.

My abnormal psychology forum was probably the most interesting discussion we had. Out of about 500 people 250 got up and left when given the chance to not talk about it. The rest of us pretty much were able to say whatever was on our minds. Most interesting of all was how one of the three TAs is Lebanese and he looks the part. I've known him for over a year now, having worked near him in a psych lab. But I couldn't help but wonder how people in our class were judging him during the forum. Then he finally went out and said where he was from just to be open about it in front of everyone. Throughout the discussion he pretty much acted as a spokesperson for what the majority of Arab Americans are going through right now. He told us that, since he only immigrated here 10 years ago, he himself had seen several bombings regularly in Lebanon already and now he knows that Americans can empathize with him. He kept reiterrating that though they weren't his beliefs, he also did a superb job trying to explain to the class the point of view of the fundamentalists and how they're completetly different from the vast majority of Arabs in the world. Though I already had an idea of what these points of view were like (being Middle Eastern and all) I thought he did an excellent job considering his position. Talk about grace under pressure! I'm hoping that now 250 fewer people in the world will be tempted to put a blind anger on something they know very little about... It seems as though heros are cropping up all over this nation today.
 
Originally posted by praying4MD:
•I realize tensions are high right now and people are angry, and rightfully so. I am angry as well. I cannot comprehend the true magnitude of this even now. The loss of life is stunning and all I can do is sit here in complete awe of what is going on. My sincerent sympathies to everyone affected.

But I beg of you to PLEASE think before you act out that anger. The backlash of hatecrimes has begun. Hate mail is pouring in. 2 girls dead in chicago. 1 police brutality in Houston. I don't know how many more elsewhere.

To those who look remotely Middle Eastern (this includes Greeks, Turks, Some Hispanics, basically could mean anyone): Don't go out unless necessary and don't flaunt yourself. Abide by all laws, (drive 5 under speed limit), if possible take a caucasian friend with you if going out at night, etc.

Remember that the perpetrators are evil people but EVERYONE in America is hurting right now, regardless of their skin color or religion. I truly cannot fathom how the victims or their families are coping and I am in shock. May God find a way out for them and may they persevere through this with dignity and honor. My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families. There will be a way out of this tragedy if we are all united and stick together through it. We will overcome evil and hatred and Americans will come out of this with honor. Sympathies to all those still waiting and I hope everything turns out for the best and you hear good news soon.•


Excuse me? take a caucasion friend with you she says? :D is the cacausion a bodyguard or a hostage? ;) by the way, how are you so sure, that if you and "your caucasion friend" in the car won't both be attacked by the angry mob? Like where you ever in the Rodney king riot? believe me, HAVING a caucasion friend didn't help the situation much LOOOL :D
 
Originally posted by WatchaMaCallit:

Excuse me? take a caucasion friend with you she says? :D is the cacausion a bodyguard or a hostage? ;) by the way, how are you so sure, that if you and "your caucasion friend" in the car won't both be attacked by the angry mob? Like where you ever in the Rodney king riot? believe me, HAVING a caucasion friend didn't help the situation much LOOOL :D
Ok, I know it sounds insane, but these are just things my Middle Eastern friends have said that they have been instructed to do by a few authorities.

We have a very close friend who is in the secret service and those were his exact words. So Yes, I know it sounds unreal to have to take silly precautions like this, and I myself did a double take when our friend in the secret service told us this, but it's true. Think of it what you will. Once again, you must remember no one's invincible and perhaps having someone with you who doesn't stand out as much may help. I don't know, I'm just passing along information to help the people on this board that may run into problems in the future. I'm just passing along info, I'm not trying to start any flame wars, especially on this thread.
 
Originally posted by praying4MD:
Originally posted by WatchaMaCallit:
[qb]
Excuse me? take a caucasion friend with you she says? :D is the cacausion a bodyguard or a hostage? ;) by the way, how are you so sure, that if you and "your caucasion friend" in the car won't both be attacked by the angry mob? Like where you ever in the Rodney king riot? believe me, HAVING a caucasion friend didn't help the situation much LOOOL :D
Ok, I know it sounds insane, but these are just things my Middle Eastern friends have said that they have been instructed to do by a few authorities.

We have a very close friend who is in the secret service and those were his exact words. So Yes, I know it sounds unreal to have to take silly precautions like this, and I myself did a double take when our friend in the secret service told us this, but it's true. Think of it what you will. Once again, you must remember no one's invincible and perhaps having someone with you who doesn't stand out as much may help. I don't know, I'm just passing along information to help the people on this board that may run into problems in the future. I'm just passing along info, I'm not trying to start any flame wars, especially on this thread.[/QB]


have you heard of sarcasm ;) I was being sarcastic.....
 
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