This issue has been bothering from back in 2001 and the election season has now brought it to fever pitch, again.
As Pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem says,
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
People have to take a stand somewhere and I do so now. As a “brown” American I feel a lot of empathy for Mr. Makhzoomi. I wrote a post in my Facebook page, where I am not really that active, after the Southwest kerfuffle with Mr. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi. I wrote in half seriousness but mostly tongue in cheek so please don’t get “het” up. I apologize in advance for a long comment:
“Some advice to brown people after the recent experience by a UC Berkeley student being kicked of a flight in LA:
Khairuldeen, Khairuldeen, Khairuldeen my friend, I hope this gets to you somehow so please read the following carefully and try to survive your college years in the U.S. without being folded spindled, mutilated, beat up, shot, stabbed or humiliated to your face such as what happened to you on Southwest. This is just going to get worse so here’s a few words of advice to Arabs, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, brown Christians (you don’t have a pass) and anybody from that part of the world.
Americans in general are kind, welcoming of immigrants and have accepted them in large numbers for a long time, as long as they assimilate. Most do, contribute to society and don’t become malcontents. But we are in extreme times now with this election season, when leading candidates for President from one major political party have taken an extreme view of “the other people” especially Arabs and Mexicans, so its open season on them. They have to find a victim group to vilify and hate, its like breathing to them. There are too many Mexicans and Hispanics in the U.S. and their voting bloc finally woke up so there’s not a whole lot that can be done to those that came here without legal status, anyone notice Trump has eased off on Mexicans? but Arabs? easy target and can be “beat up.”
So with my tongue firmly in the cheek I offer some advice to “Brown people” on how to survive in the U.S. All it needs is a bit of planning:
1: A significant number of Americans don’t have passports and have never traveled outside their state or country. So every foreign language sounds the same and one coming from a Brown mouth, for now = Arabic. Blame all the so-called anti-terrorist shows going back to 24. So enough with the cell phone, you can talk to your uncle when you get to Berkeley, turn it off, get on the plane and try not to talk to anybody. Say please, thank you, have a nice day whenever possible. Throw in a “Man, we need more rain,” or “How about them Warriors,” this shows you are more one of them than not.
2: Before you get on a plane, bus, train, wherever you are locked in for a period of time, buy a “Make America Great again” Trump hat and wear it proudly, bonus points for having a Cruz button in prominent view. People will be flummoxed but that is good. A brown person supporting Trump or Cruz? you’ll be dinner table topic than a potential terrorist. Buy one made in China, at least Trump won’t make money off you.
3: If asked, tell people you are from “Jaraguey,” a small country in South America. Sounds close to Uruguay and Paraguay but “America” is the key word as in search engines, it eases any concern. Its not a real country but a lot of people here are geography challenged. After 9/11, even though I did not fit the age profile of a “terrorist” I said I was from Paraguay for a while. But who knew! I actually met someone from Argentina who had been there. Embarrassing…
Pick up a few words of Portuguese, an unknown language that sounds vaguely Spanish but from a country that is still obscure here in America, but if you come across any Brazilians don’t startup. They speak Portuguese, its their native language and remember if you go to a Carnival/Carnaval, its wall to wall Brazilians. This will confuse the heck out of people. Forget Spanish, a lot of people have heard it and unless you can carry on a short conversation you’ll never pass off as Mexican or Latino.
4: A bit more sensitive piece of advice, don’t have an unkempt beard, keep it trimmed or better still shave it off. Most religions allow people to adapt for the environment and you don’t have to wear yours on your sleeve. That is if you are the religious type. You might be religious and proud of your country but Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya are all problem topics so its better to be discreet.
5: No matching white Pajama type clothing. Everybody has seen various terrorist types wearing loose fitting white pajamas and they are tuned to it. They don’t realize its hot as blazes in those parts of the world and white clothing keeps you cooler than colored clothing but the power of TV is hard to overcome. Or black because those ISIS dudes had to be different. Black used to be cool but now black clothes worn by a brown person is a red flag. Unless if you wear a Tux, Evening wear etc. Then you become “accepted.” This is silly, you can’t be wearing a Tux everywhere, somebody will mistake for a hotel doorman and when you start explaining, boom — FBI.
6: Never try to explain the peacefulness of your religion, its all white noise to people who don’t want to listen. After Trump/Cruz, Fox News and random right-wing radio personalities, and other GOP tools mouthing off, the fear factor has been heightened to dangerous levels. And this country is also unique in that there are 300 million guns owned by the public and there are too many itchy fingers and lots of ammo. Which leads me to the next point,
7: Unless you have to, avoid visiting States in the South until the election is over and things start to cool down a bit. Very nice people live there but a few will take umbrage at the way you look, dress, talk, behave and you could get beat up or shot for “he looked at me wrong.” Also there’s open carry of guns in a lot of states down there. A few years ago a Japanese college student got killed in Louisiana by the husband of a panicked woman when he showed up at their doorstep asking for directions to a party. Nobody was prosecuted. Go figure. True, google it.
8. This is what I have for now but relief may be close at hand. The nutcase dictator in North Korea has missiles that actually started flying and he’s trying to attach a small nuke to it. I don’t know what he’s thinking trying to take on the U.S. But it looks like he does not have a realistic understanding of its military power and our nukes can actually hit his flat top head.
But all this missile rattling can be a plus for brown people. If he attacks South Korea or Japan and some Americans get caught in the military action, Asian people will become the new enemy! I feel bad for them but that’s “youuuge.” Americans already locked up the Japanese Americans during WWII so anybody who is of East Asian origin will become potential baddies. Koreans, Chinese, Japanese again(sorry guys), Vietnamese (again, sorry), Cambodians, Laotians, Thai, Mongolian (Genghis Khan gets no respect here, you are just Asian) and possibly Filipinos and Indonesians. We’ll have another couple of million fellow travelers. But meanwhile stay safe and good luck in your stay here.
Before I forget, special to Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, don’t wait for an apology from Southwest. They all know the “art of apologizing” without meaning it. Its the problem associated with too many PR and disaster managers on staff. Sue the “bejeezus” out of Southwest, the management, the crew, their unions and the ground staff unions. There’s real money there. Its only when the pocketbook gets hit they notice. Its ignorant, egregious, holier than thou behavior on their part and not acceptable. Ask CAIR for help in finding a lawyer.”