I've been depressed this week. Seeing inky99's post yesterday (Prisoners packed in icewater-filled garbage cans) about Abu Ghraib...and specially this picture (don't click if you don't want to cry)
The second thing that makes me depressed is that we are upon the fifth anniversary of one of the greatest follies of our nations history. Where we as a nation were complicit in attacking another country simply for because we were afraid (our politicians were afraid of losing oil security and some of us were just afraid of Saddam).
Easily over four thousand Americans have died. Surveys of morgues and scientific interviews suggest1.2 million Iraqis have died.
Why couldn't "we the people" stop our country from doing such evil?
I think I felt ashamed as an American.
It comes down to not enough people standing up for what is right. It always does. Human history shows us that the people who publicly stand up against injustice are always a minority.
So this video brought tears of joy...
(more below)
I felt proud as an American. It restored my faith that this is one of the few countries where people do stand up against clear racism and bigotry when they see it, and they stand up strongly.
For those that cannot watch it because of bandwidth issues, or would rather not watch at work, here is a synopsis:
ABC News setup two actors in a diner. One actor was playing a racist cashier. The other actor was playing a headscarf wielding Muslim woman.
The racist cashier refuses to serve the Muslim woman saying semi-racist things (take your jihad out in the parking lot).
Hidden cameras monitor reaction from the unsuspecting customers.
Some customer come to the scarf wearing damsel's defense, others support the evil cashier. One scene shows the reporter following one of the bigots asking why he gave a thumbs up to the cashier (twice!) and supported discrimination against the Muslim woman. The bigot turns around and tells the reporter that he's not American, either. I don't know the spelling of the reporter's name "John Kinyounis" -- he looks like he has Hispanic or Greek ancestry)
In the end eighteen people stood up for the girl, including a father of an Iraq war veteran. Six supported the cashier. The reporter wistfully notes that the majority (22) did nothing.
But I don't think that is fair. It takes courage to speak against injustice publicly. The fact that 18 did so, and did so strongly makes me feel extremely good my country.