KING: White privilege extends to flying, which people of color know too well
SHAUN KING
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 1:13 PM
YouTube prankster Adam Saleh posted a video showing himself getting kicked off a Delta flight in Australia for speaking in Arabic.
(@OMGADAMSALEH VIA TWITTER)
popular YouTube star Adam Saleh was put off of the flightby security. He claimed that it was because he was overheard speaking Arabic. A passenger sitting close to him was visibly upset by it all.
As the video of Saleh’s ouster has gone viral, some people have expressed doubts about the authenticity of his claims because he is sometimes known for pulling pranks and hoaxes for laughs and giggles. The truth of this story will come out. The way I see it, if by chance Saleh was deliberately or loudly speaking Arabic on the plane to see what would happen, which I doubt, the fact that he was put off of the plane over it is a major problem and gets to the root of a much a deeper issue. Flying on an airplane — for a person of color, for a Muslim, for someone speaking Arabic, or for virtually anyone who does not fit a very narrow, white heteronormative slice of the world — can be like walking on eggshells.
Whereas every Muslim in America is well aware that wearing a hijab, having a large beard, praying out loud, or simply speaking Arabic could very well raise the suspicions of passengers and staff members alike, and cause them to be targeted for harassment or removal from the plane, no such fear exists for everyday white people. In essence, white people are fully allowed to be themselves when flying all over the world. If hokey white Christians held hands and prayed to Jesus before, during, or after a flight, which I have seen many times, such behavior has no repercussions. Being white and having a long beard, or long hair, or loud clothes, or virtually anything else means nothing on an airplane.
No case proved this point more than when a belligerent white Donald Trump supporterstood up on a Delta flight last monthand went absolutely bananas on the passengers — standing up, yelling Trump’s name, and calling women “Hillary Clinton b----es” for all to see and hear. He wasn’t put off of the flight. Instead, he was allowed to process through his rage until he was done, on his own time, then take a seat and enjoy his flight.
SEE IT: YouTube star Adam Saleh kicked off Delta flight
Delta later admitted it was a mistake, but in the moment, that man was fully protected by the privilege of his whiteness. He knew it. The passengers knew it.
A video posted to Facebook shows a man ranting while on a Delta Airlines flight about President-elect Donald Trump.
(FACEBOOK)
Whatever happened with Adam Saleh, he was granted no such privilege. Instead, white passengers can be seen taunting and cheering at his removal.
Six Muslim imamswere once removed from a flight. They violated no rules. Their very presence frightened a passenger, who passed a note to staff, who had them removed.
Rev. William Barber said in a statement that he was removed from an American Airlines flight in April.
(DAVID GOLDMAN/AP)
A brilliant Arabic speaking studentwas recently removed from a Southwest Airlines flightsimply for speaking Arabic on a phone call with his uncle. His very language raised suspicion.
KING: How white privilege allows white men to assault black men
Two young Muslim women were recently removed from a flightafter a flight attendant reportedly claimed they made her feel unsafe.
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi talks during an interview in his office in Berkeley, Calif., in April, explaining how he was unfairly removed from a plane.
(HAVEN DALEY/AP)
A Christian man was booted from a flightwhen passengers saw him using a prayer appon his phone and thought he was a Muslim.
It goes beyond Muslims being targeted. Rev. William Barber, one of the most beloved civil rights activists in the country, who also has a physical disability, was removed from a plane after he asked a flight attendant to have white passengers behind him lower their voices. He is suing the airline for targeting him because of his race.
Imam Omar Shahin (r.) is followed by Mahdi Bray (l.) and Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport on Nov. 27. Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" demonstration.
(LAWRENCE JACKSON/AP)
Earlier this year a young black activist wasremoved from a flight for no discernible reasonother than the fact that the flight crew did not like the tone in which she expressed a concern.
KING: Trump’s cabinet is the whitest in a generation
If you ask virtually any person of color or any Muslim you know, they can tell you full well how aware they are that they could be quickly targeted, harassed, or removed from a flight if they are perceived by anyone to be a problem or a nuisance of any sort. They will not be given the benefit of the doubt and they damn sure couldn’t stand up and belligerently harass people like the Trump supporter did earlier this year. The same rules simply don’t apply.
SHAUN KING
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 1:13 PM
- Tweet
YouTube prankster Adam Saleh posted a video showing himself getting kicked off a Delta flight in Australia for speaking in Arabic.
(@OMGADAMSALEH VIA TWITTER)
popular YouTube star Adam Saleh was put off of the flightby security. He claimed that it was because he was overheard speaking Arabic. A passenger sitting close to him was visibly upset by it all.
As the video of Saleh’s ouster has gone viral, some people have expressed doubts about the authenticity of his claims because he is sometimes known for pulling pranks and hoaxes for laughs and giggles. The truth of this story will come out. The way I see it, if by chance Saleh was deliberately or loudly speaking Arabic on the plane to see what would happen, which I doubt, the fact that he was put off of the plane over it is a major problem and gets to the root of a much a deeper issue. Flying on an airplane — for a person of color, for a Muslim, for someone speaking Arabic, or for virtually anyone who does not fit a very narrow, white heteronormative slice of the world — can be like walking on eggshells.
Whereas every Muslim in America is well aware that wearing a hijab, having a large beard, praying out loud, or simply speaking Arabic could very well raise the suspicions of passengers and staff members alike, and cause them to be targeted for harassment or removal from the plane, no such fear exists for everyday white people. In essence, white people are fully allowed to be themselves when flying all over the world. If hokey white Christians held hands and prayed to Jesus before, during, or after a flight, which I have seen many times, such behavior has no repercussions. Being white and having a long beard, or long hair, or loud clothes, or virtually anything else means nothing on an airplane.
No case proved this point more than when a belligerent white Donald Trump supporterstood up on a Delta flight last monthand went absolutely bananas on the passengers — standing up, yelling Trump’s name, and calling women “Hillary Clinton b----es” for all to see and hear. He wasn’t put off of the flight. Instead, he was allowed to process through his rage until he was done, on his own time, then take a seat and enjoy his flight.
SEE IT: YouTube star Adam Saleh kicked off Delta flight
Delta later admitted it was a mistake, but in the moment, that man was fully protected by the privilege of his whiteness. He knew it. The passengers knew it.
A video posted to Facebook shows a man ranting while on a Delta Airlines flight about President-elect Donald Trump.
(FACEBOOK)
Whatever happened with Adam Saleh, he was granted no such privilege. Instead, white passengers can be seen taunting and cheering at his removal.
Six Muslim imamswere once removed from a flight. They violated no rules. Their very presence frightened a passenger, who passed a note to staff, who had them removed.
Rev. William Barber said in a statement that he was removed from an American Airlines flight in April.
(DAVID GOLDMAN/AP)
A brilliant Arabic speaking studentwas recently removed from a Southwest Airlines flightsimply for speaking Arabic on a phone call with his uncle. His very language raised suspicion.
KING: How white privilege allows white men to assault black men
Two young Muslim women were recently removed from a flightafter a flight attendant reportedly claimed they made her feel unsafe.
Khairuldeen Makhzoomi talks during an interview in his office in Berkeley, Calif., in April, explaining how he was unfairly removed from a plane.
(HAVEN DALEY/AP)
A Christian man was booted from a flightwhen passengers saw him using a prayer appon his phone and thought he was a Muslim.
It goes beyond Muslims being targeted. Rev. William Barber, one of the most beloved civil rights activists in the country, who also has a physical disability, was removed from a plane after he asked a flight attendant to have white passengers behind him lower their voices. He is suing the airline for targeting him because of his race.
Imam Omar Shahin (r.) is followed by Mahdi Bray (l.) and Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport on Nov. 27. Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" demonstration.
(LAWRENCE JACKSON/AP)
Earlier this year a young black activist wasremoved from a flight for no discernible reasonother than the fact that the flight crew did not like the tone in which she expressed a concern.
KING: Trump’s cabinet is the whitest in a generation
If you ask virtually any person of color or any Muslim you know, they can tell you full well how aware they are that they could be quickly targeted, harassed, or removed from a flight if they are perceived by anyone to be a problem or a nuisance of any sort. They will not be given the benefit of the doubt and they damn sure couldn’t stand up and belligerently harass people like the Trump supporter did earlier this year. The same rules simply don’t apply.