Stuff white people don't like: TSA pat downs

The corner of the twitterverse I listen to is fluttering about the TSA.  People are outraged.  Our inability to come to grips with our own fear has manifested itself in an entity which seems out of control.  If you are flying, it feels like you have to be super careful about what you say or do around the TSA, because you never know which one little thing you say or do will trigger a national security emergency.

I'm not the most clued and sensitive guy in the world about matters of race and class, but it just strikes me that maybe this is a good thing.  Finally White America is getting a taste of its own medicine.  Any tiny twinge of fear that white people feel about encounters with the TSA is probably just a fraction of what people experience every day whose skin color and street address mark them for the same sort of merciless, terrorizing, control.

This is what happens when you let fear rule you.  Somewhere, usually far away from you, justice is sacrificed to make you feel safer.  Can someone who has a microphone challenge America to find the courage to be the better version of itself?

 

Comments

[Dave]

mm hm.

[Vkaz.wordpress.com]

well said.

[arthur stewart]

Agree that it is indeed a matter of perspective. I have attempted to explain all the ruckus about TSA measures to people here in South Africa and can't find anyone to even blink an eye about how terrible this is. When you have lived through war, poverty, hunger (like most people on the globe), an extra 15 minutes in line or having someone see your underwear seems minor.