There are limits to free speech in that you can't yell fire in a crowded theater. So I would say "I am going to bomb this plane" Tshirt will be the equivalent of that in an airport. That being said, I truly being what happened to the dude was more racial that most people think. "We will be not be silenced" itself isn't a security threat or inciting. It can mean so many things because it's so abstract. However since people have stereotypes and preconceptions with the color of his skin, they put 2 and 2 together and panic. That shouldn't be allowed by law. Free speech shouldn't be conditional upon how you look like or what people think of you.
bottom line....free speech does not apply inside of a private company...agreed.....a non-issue as far as the shirt goes....Racially ...Thats a different story
Perhaps you missed the part where it was discussed that a private company doesn't have the right to infringe on someone because of their ethnicity. This is most definitely a real issue to complain about. If freedom of speech doesn't seem real enough for you, then I would be interest which issues you might find more important.
So is it a racial discrimination issue or a free speech issue? Free Speech is a huge issue to me. But freedom of speech assumes that there will be consequences. I work at a refinery. My company could choose to not sell fuel to anyone who wears a shirt promoting alternative fuels. No one is infringing on the rights of anyone to wear the shirt. But if they do, they will face the consequence of not being able to do business with my company. (If my company refused to do business with Native Americans who wore a shirt promoting alternative fuels, that would be illegal.) I think JetBlue's actions are wrong. But definitely not illegal and definitely not infringing on anyone's rights.
Heheh, so we still have no consensus whether this is purely racial, mostly racial, purely free speech, or mostly free speech issue.
Could it be an example of "limited free speech for certain race"? I doubt a caucasian wearing a T-shirt with English words "We will not be silent", will cause other passengers to report anything, or security to request him to change. I also doubt a caucasian will likely get into trouble with the exact same T-shirt the guy wore. Will that guy be in trouble with a T-shirt without Arabic but only the English wording? Quite possible. To me, it's both racial and free speech, but mostly racial issue. JMHO.
In Houston this week I went to a political meeting and the woman who was speaking Ann Wright who is a retired colonel, a law school graduate and a the highest ranking State Dept official to resign over Bush's illegal Iraq War mentioned this. She was speaking on the legal case for impeaching Bush for war crimes. Wright said that the t-shirt had the Arabic translation on it. It was a political t-shirt not unique to the architect. Anglos who boarded planes with the same t-shirt were not hassled.
I mentioned earlier that if they didn't let anyone wearing a t-shirt on the plane and enforced a dress code that would be one thing. The man was not stopped because he wore a t-shirt. He was stopped because he wore that t-shirt. I can't sit back here without hearing evidence in a trial and say it was definitely illegal. But I can say that it appears to have violated the constitution of the U.S. by denying that man wearing that t-shirt permission to board either because it was written in a foreign language, he was of Arab heritage, or what it said on the shirt, or a combination of those factors.
Yes I have, and today is the day I fly. I leave today at noon pacific times for JFK, and I am wearing the exact shirt as we speak. I will return Dec. 9th, from JFK and I will wear the same shirt then too.
good luck franchiseblade. just out of curiosity... are you by any chance middle eastern descendent? it's kind of personal and you certainly don't have to answer it. but my point is that you are more likely to be stopped if you are visibly arabic wearing that shirt, compare to, say a caucasian.
First off -- grown men shouldn't be wearing t-shirts with slogans on them. Especially on airplanes . If the shirt was the one that was linked to FB -- really not offensive. And a pretty weak act of civil disobedience. Likely could have been worn by anyone -- including arab men -- without incident. He had, afterall, checked in OK. But they had complaints -- and had to react. So...they bought him a new t-shirt and sent him on his way. I guess with millions of people boarding planes these guys make a few bad calls. I'd say this was one of them. If FB wears that shirt on his travels, I'm guessing he goes unnoticed. I'm also guessing an arab man could wear the same tshirt without incident most days. Poorly handled by the security guys this time. Enjoy your travels FB. If I'm wrong about the tshirt be sure to post about your experiences. I hear Cuba's real nice this time of year.
LOL! Good luck, FB. Let us know how it goes...if you can that is (I heard Gitmo is nice this time of the year)
We lose personal freedom every time we lean to the politically correct right or the politically correct left. This guy is merely Exhibit A-4455999776321. Personally, I don't want anybody telling me what to think, wear, walk, talk or chew gum, etc. etc.
You are correct. I wore the shirt without incident at all. I will be wearing it again when I fly back on Saturday. No I am not of middle eastern descent. Anyway to show that the shirt was acceptable to anyone, I made sure to wear a western belt, cowboy hat, and cowboy boots for the flight along with the shirt. I honestly didn't think anything would happen, and it didn't. That is why I was puzzled at NJ Rocket taking a "I dare you" attitude toward wearing the shirt. If I have a chance I will check back in on the boards during my trip. Bye everyone.
Dude, what a cop out. Cowboy hats get you a free pass. Everyone knows that. But I guess you got ripped off because YOU didn't get a FREE t-shirt. On the issue at hand: Grapes AND Orange Juice for breakfast? Man he was ASKING for trouble.
It was silly to have him cover up his t-shirt, but 240k?? C'mon...that is horrible. These lawsuits and political correctness in this country is just nuts. How can someone justify having to wear a shirt over their shirt for a plane ride constitutes 240k in Damages!!?? The shirt should've said 'cha-chiiinnnngggg!' in arabic. Silly lawsuits like this one increases the costs of EVERYTHING to all Americans. So the flights are now incrementallly more expensive to pay for this silly lawsuit.
damages are punative to prevent it from happening again. I bet the next time an airline tries to pull a stunt like that, they'll think twice. I'm sure the $240K spread out over thousands of flights won't add to your expense.
That is ridiculous.....$240k? Oh well....racial profiling is wrong..... So, here is some racial profiling humor. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wskT6YfVB6E&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wskT6YfVB6E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> DD
