The persistance of suspicion

[spudtater]

So I was on the bus the other day, with an asian-looking young man sitting a few rows in front of me. Suddenly he jumps up and runs downstairs, leaving a largish backpack on the seat.

I look at it for a few moments.

Niggling fears are starting to form at the back of my mind. Should I take it downstairs, hope the guy's still on the bus, and give it to him? Should I tell the driver? Should I chuck it out the window? (No, of course not, don't be silly.)

Then, half a minute later, the guy comes back upstairs with his mate, who he'd obviously spotted getting on the bus. False alarm — I'm moderately relieved.

Now, I'm quite significanly anti-racist, and avoid tabloids alarmist publications like the plague, and yet still fear, uncertainty and doubt presented themselves in my mind. Would I have thought these thoughts if he had been white, or chinese? Probably not. "Mud sticks", it's said, and it does seem true that our subconsciousnesses are quick to stereotype, and quick to attach negative attributes to categories of people.

In conclusion: Beh.   8^P

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In other news:

Answers up for the book-guessing meme! Based on a scoring system wot I just invented, the top scores are:

sigmonster, 200 points
xquiq, 125 points
zotz, 110 points
digitalraven, 108 points

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Finally, I'd like to point and laugh at a spam email I received today, purporting to be from "fascist regimes". Yes, I receive lots of email from such entities — how did you know?

Comments

[torsparkles.livejournal.com]

I would have probably been the same if the person was white. But then I guess that's because of the IRA stuff and the alarmist way my parents/friends parents were (the friends parents had been working in the pub that was bombed in Brum - and was always fearful of us being out).

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

I suppose having it happen to people you know makes it a little more real.

Some acquaintances of my mother died in the Bali bombing, so I'm not too many Kevin Bacons away from such things myself.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

I would've picked it up and taken it downstairs assuming that he'd forgotten it. On the plus side, if it was a bomb he'd be more likely to die too. Besides have you ever heard of an Islamic fundie bomber running away from his bomb? The 'glory' is in dying with it. Running away would be seen as cowardice and he'd have nowhere to go.

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

AIUI, the people picked for these tasks tend to be young and impressionable. I wouldn't be surprised if a not insubstantial portion of them get scared and change their minds at the last minute.

In the 2002 Bali bombings, it was discovered that the bomb had a remote detonator as well as a local one; presumably in case the "martyr" chickened out...   8^P

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

or got 'caught'. Someone else watching could detonate the bomb before it was removed.

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

Eep! I'm not sure if I should be annoyed with myself for not coming top or annoyed with myself for clearly being a big geek ;)

FWIW I would probably have had similar thoughts if I were on a bus and that happened, regardless of the skin colour of the individual involved, although their age might influence my thoughts. This is despite the fact that I know that it's extremely improbable that terrorists will attack any individual bus.

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

> it's extremely improbable that terrorists will attack any individual bus.

Or indeed any buses at all. I think the general consensus is that the 7/7 "bus bomber" was supposed to have been another Underground bomber, but he got caught up in traffic on his way there.   8^P

[sigmonster.livejournal.com]

"The one who dies with the most books, wins."