Thu, July 22, 2004

Not to belabor the point, but this is exactly the sort of ridiculous sensationalism that gets me so aggravated.

Two stories ([NYT] and [Salon]) detail the response to an account, published online by Annie Jacobsen, of a recent airplane flight which included some Arab-looking Syrian passengers. Jacobsen was initially suspicious (which I think is reasonable, although in some ways disheartening), but she continued to freak out even after landing and learning that the 14 men were simply musicians, not terrorists attempting (or rehearsing) a hijacking.

As Patrick Smith (Salon's "Ask the Pilot") puts it:

As a matter of fact, nothing happened. Turns out the Syrians are part of a musical ensemble hired to play at a hotel. The men talk to one another. They glance around. They pee.

It's understandable that Jacobsen would be a little cautious in the presence of these men – especially if she's watched the news in this country in the last three years. It's a kind of unfortunate racial profiling situation, but at some point we have to admit that out of all the people who could hijack airplanes, young Middle Eastern men are some of them. You don't want to overdo the political correctness thing and let people carry bombs onboard an aircraft just because they're dark-skinned and it would be impolite to stop them. However, in a situation like Jacobsen describes, I think you have to at least be aware of where your prejudices are coming into play. People behaving suspiciously are people behaving suspiciously, no matter what their ethnicity. But if the only reason you're watching them is the color of their skin, you have to ask yourself whether a white person doing the same thing would still grab your attention. I can't answer this on Jacobsen's behalf; I don't know if the things in her story happened exactly that way, or if she embellished them out of fear (or sensationalism). If unembellished, I could see where they might cause concern, and it might be reasonable to contact a flight attendant – which she did.

However, once you're safe at home – your flight met by federal agents and local police, you and the suspects questioned for hours, all authorities satisfied that nothing spooky was going on – you have to let it go. At that point, your story is a parable about how fear grips this country, preys on ethnic stereotypes, and makes people see things that aren't really there. Your story is not about what a "close call" you had.

But that's the story Annie Jacobsen chose to write. You can't be too mad at her; some people are crazy, hyperactive, nervous racists – that's just who they are. The Internet is full of wacky stories published by stupid people. (Case in point: onebee.com.) Where does it get irresponsible? When does it raise my ire?

You guessed it: when the mainstream media picks it up and runs with it. There's fear to be sown! Let's get on the job!

Let's begin with this, from another Ask the Pilot:

I truly despise the relentless, post-Sept. 11 intertwine of terrorism and flying, but apparently we're stuck with it. If that day's criminal cabal succeeded at one thing, it was grafting a virulently toxic psychology into the very DNA of air travel. Not entirely surprising, if you'll allow me to turn political for a moment, in a society that increasingly encourages fear, front and center over rationality or common sense.

(My emphasis. Just wanted to make sure you're awake!)

Smith is exactly right. The very fact that people harbor this 1:1 association between terrorism and air travel is the perfect example of how rampantly fear is controlling people's thinking. Where are the scary stories about working in tall buildings? As the Hollywood pitchsters have proven, terrorism can take place anywhere. The phrase, "Die Hard on a ..." doesn't come out of nowhere. Planes, trains, buildings, buses, fields, cars, tunnels... you can perpetrate a terror attack anywhere. In my view, planes are the least likely place for terrorists to strike again, because 1) it's been done; and 2) we're expecting it. If they're planning to attack anything right now (and, really, they're not), it isn't a plane. Too much security there! Only the dumbest terrorist (like the idiot shoe bomber guy) would attempt to attack a plane at this point.

But Jacobsen, acting on irrational and disproven anxieties, has written an exhortation on the "dangers" of air travel, and outlets like ABC, CNN, and MSNBC have picked it up because it's an opportunity to keep stirring the cauldron. So, air travel continues to be painted as the most dangerous, terror-ridden activity this side of the Olympics, and we get comments like these (excerpted from Smith's column):

"You will never, ever, catch me on an airplane again!"

"My advice would be to de-plane as soon as I counted 14 Arabs as passengers."

Remember: be afraid enough not to vote for Kerry; but not so afraid that you don't vote for Bush.

Many thanks to longtime reader and bee magnet Andy for the initial NYT and Salon links that got my blood boiling.

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