xenophobia in tampa
JoelI made a mistake when I wrote about the story of the two Saudi students boarding a school bus. Because Sticks is a Tampa blog, I tried to keep my thoughts focused on the local: two adults were able to board a school bus with little complaint. I knew the students’ nationality would be a major part of the story, but I wanted to avoid a subject so absolutely large.
But the race issue is every bit about Tampa. USF and accusations of terrorism are undeniably linked.
Comments both on my post and at the story on TBO.com have made quite clear that we share this city with people of very strong opinions regarding this issue (though we’re proud to say that our readers here seem to be much more rational and intelligent). Even the Tribune’s Daniel Ruth weighed in with his opinion, which amounted to him searching the thesaurus for synonyms of “stupid” (good work, Dan - nice to see your reference library is in order).
I finally received my last bit of guilt today at work. The two Saudi Arabians are in the English Language Institute program, and most students enrolled in that program have been coming in my store to buy their books for the last week. (I don’t know for sure if I’ve helped the two that got on the school bus).
All of the ELI students are assigned to one of six levels of English learning. Those enrolled in the higher levels seem like they’re familiar enough with language and culture to help themselves. The vast majority however - especially those in the lower levels - ask for help with a combination of humility and nervous uncertainty that does not allow me to stay quiet about this.
Not all of the students are from Saudi Arabia or the Middle East - we have seen students from Brazil, Southeast Asia, even Western Europe. But we are talking about two Saudi students. And it just so happens that the differences between their culture and ours are probably far greater than with most other regions in this world. Let’s flip this thing around; can you honestly tell me that in four to six months living in Saudi Arabia, you would feel completely confident in your knowledge of a language with a completely different alphabet? In a half year, would you gain the knowledge of customs and procedures completely different from those you’ve known your entire life?
Now imagine you have make a mistake. You do understand this country is supposed to be all about freedom and opportunity - how could simply boarding a bus be wrong? And then with no warning, intimidating people with weapons are asking you a lot of questions. It’s not exactly Midnight Express yet, but you don’t know it won’t become that. And keep in mind, these young guys are fully aware of the way Middle Easterners are viewed in this country these days.
Have you ever been pulled over? And then say something stupid or unneccesary to the cop? Would you if thought you were a few steps away from deportation. I can easily understand why these two would be hesitant to admit their nationality.
Listen, if these guys are up to no good, and months from now we’re mourning some great tragedy, I can understand your furious stance with my bleeding heart. But don’t expect an apology.
Not only am I satisfied with the authorities’ decision to let these men go (albeit after some pretty questionable investigating) but I’m just too in love with life to spend it with my head over my shoulder and my finger on a trigger. There is an enormous difference between living with sensible caution and living with paranoid xenophobia. If you can’t function without the latter that is absolutely your right. Me - I’m holding firm to my shred of faith in humanity that is far more threatened by growing insensitivity (bordering on and edging over to bigotry) than by a murderous few ruining it for an innocent many.
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May 26th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Well put, Joel. Great post.
May 26th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Your best work yet, Joel. Fantastic…
May 26th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Absolutely amazing. This post really made my day. Screw that, my week. Very well written, points were right on, and I totally agree with everything you said. We don’t always get followups to different stories and such, but I’m glad that this was one of the exceptions. It shows why Sticks is a great place to visit every day.
May 26th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
yes your post is great, and i agree with your sentiment. but as an anti-xenophobe, i think it’s worth noting, if most of us (especially women!) went to Saudi Arabia and tried to learn how to blend in on the fly, we’d probably get in a lot of trouble. For instance, if an American woman drives a car or dresses immodestly in Saudi Arabia, what would happen? Probably far worse than what happened to the unfortunate bus riders. Hopefully this incident will teach us all (even the Saudis)the importance of tolerance toward others.
May 26th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
That was a great post. I keep wondering what kind of a bus driver lets grown men onto a school bus though. I rode the local schools bus for years in school and remember the drivers as group of terrifyingly strong women that could calm 60 unruly kids with a harsh stare in the mirror. I actually remember my high school driver breaking up a looming fight by shaking her broom and screaming “YOU WANT SOME OF THIS YOU TWO?!!!” What happened to those women?
May 26th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Watch out. The word xenophobia will bring intolerant people out. I know from experience. Keep your wingnut repellent handy.
May 27th, 2006 at 9:10 am
Let’s flip it around: Just because some find the student’s story improbable doesn’t mean they knee jerk immediatly to terrorism because these men were Middle-Eastern in appearance. That’s just racist. For me, it was more about the safety of the high school students and the apparent paranoia of the bus driver. Two guys (who cares the color of their skin) somehow get on a bus full of students. I understand the bus driver has a protocol to follow but just what got them past the driver and into a seat if the driver thought they didn’t belong on the bus? Seems to me all you have to do is stand up and do a few obvious hand gestures to show the men they can’t get on this particular bus with these particular kids. I don’t see you as a bleeding heart, your entries are very well-considered and written. I am also not paranoid about terrorism (contrary to what the president would like). I am paranoid about people not standing up anymore. Because we’re afraid of offending, we seem to get ourselves into some pretty strange/idiotic/dangerous situations. I’d be interested to know the fuller story of the interaction between the driver and the USF students. Seems like the whole thing could have been headed off with a little effort. It’s almost as though that bus driver saw their skin color, assumed the worst and went into terror-alert mode. What kind of efforts did the bus driver make to communicate? Sheesh, it’s like being a bartender or a cop: you are in contol of a situation and you have it in your power to make it better or–with your own attitude–make it worse. I think the bus driver could use some assertiveness/sensitivity training as well as a little alertness practice (how did the driver get into the position of feeling the necessity to “forcefully remove” them?). They should never have made it all the way on to the bus. I said their story was fishy. I still think it might be, just not in a terrorist-y way.
May 28th, 2006 at 7:17 am
good job and nice words Joel - but I still can’t believe they were ever allowed to even get on the bus and I still think the bus driver did the right thing.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:25 am
I’m sorry, but maybe some people don’t realize how young these guys look, and are actually very close to the age of most high school students. They didn’t get on the bus with a bunch of preschoolers. They got on with high school students, and considering that when i was in high school, I could grow a full beard, it’s not far-fetched that a sub, not familiar with the people on the route, may not be aware of it.
And yes, it’s quite possible she didn’t become aware of it until they started to speak in Arabic, and the bus driver was either alerted by another rider, or by hearing the speech herself.
Let’s get off the “tolerance” diatribe. I’m the first person to stand up and say, “we need to be more tolerant.” But the customs in Saudi Arabia that are being labeled here as “intolerant” are religious in nature, while our intolerance is based solely on fear.