Is all this security or is it just paranoia?
Since the Sept.11 attacks were carried out by Muslim terrorists, people treat Arab-Americans differently and discriminate against them. This is actually a violation of their rights and it questions the very essence of democracy.
COMMENTARY
Jeff Dennis

Last Friday, television networks were closely monitoring a situation in Florida in which two cars were being searched in connection to a possible terrorist threat. A woman claimed that she heard three men of Middle Eastern descent discussing terrorist plans and joking about last year’s attacks.

Within the next day or two, it was determined that the three men had no terrorist related paraphernalia with them, and denied having even talked about past or future terrorist attacks.

This situation once again brings to the forefront the issue of how much freedom we have to sacrifice in order to protect our way of life. It has yet to be determined if the woman who made the allegations fabricated a story based entirely on the men’s descent, or possibly just thought she was hearing terrorist remarks because of background noise or an unconscious bias against the men. There is a remote chance that she averted another terrorist attack, yet thus far, the three men have shown no indication of any wrongdoing.

The men were, in fact, medical students headed to Miami for training related to their profession. One of the men is American-born, and the other two were both in the country legally.

Is it just part of the American way that certain groups of our society must undergo constant hassles and great scrutiny from the authorities simply because of their physical appearance? Just because one sector of the population is uncomfortable in the presence of Arab-Americans, it seems now that the group is expected to give up freedom most Americans would not so willingly surrender.

If the terrorist attacks had been carried out by Caucasian male businessmen, would they be as amiable when subjected to constant searches and violations of freedom based solely on their physical appearance?

At TCU, we are blessed to have a more tolerant community in which racial problems are not as prevalent as in other areas of our society, and it is our responsibility to share this tolerance with those who are not a part of our community.

Outside of the TCU campus, there is still a portion of the population who thinks the War on Terrorism is a war on Muslims. It is clearly nothing new that closed-minded people dislike and distrust that which they have no knowledge of, but obviously our government has done little to combat this problem since its focus seems to move from one Muslim country to another.

As the al Qaeda network is further exposed, we can see that there are still many very real threats all around us, as there are terrorist cells in countries all across the globe. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell the difference between an al Qaeda terrorist and a law abiding Arab-American, which is where the problem remains.

We cannot treat these people as though they are second class citizens who are not to be trusted, or else we are only regressing as a country and losing focus entirely of the goal of equal rights.

As we think about the freedoms we hold dear to us as a part of being an American, it is important that we remember every American citizen should have access to these rights, and not just a select few.

Jeff Dennis is a senior sociology major from Gail.