or not really racist but predjudice in some way? please tell me!
Okay here's the story:
I woke up early this morning to an alarm going off in my building I live in on-campus apartments and I just moved here so I had no idea what to do, it didn't sound like a normal fire alarm and there was no call for a fire drill but my suitemate said we should go outside. So we all file out and it just so happens at my school there are alot of Muslims, Middle Easten people, basically the majority of students living in this building are international. And when we got outside noone I knew as being 'incharge' was there to tell us what to do. There were a few men with beards and turbans on telling us all to go over by the fence, but the area where they were telling us to stand was inclosed, so I can't understand if it was a REAL EMERGENCY we would not all want to be enclosed like that with no way out! THis all had me really confused!
2007-10-16 08:19:45 · 7 answers · asked by cuteness 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
But the very oddest thing to me was later on this afternoon I asked at the front desk what the alarm went off for. And they said 'for security purposes we can not release this information'. And they wouldnt even tell me what alarm it was that went off, a fire alarm or another emergency alarm.... but I wonder how does it make ME more secure to NOT know why the alarms went off? and if there was a terrorist attack at my school or any kind of school shooting how would i know to stay in my room or to leave if they won't tell me what the different alarms sound like?
2007-10-16 08:23:08 · update #1
also it made me very uncomfortable that when I started asking why the alarm went off people acted annoyed with me, and yes they were all middle eastern men.... so maybe that is where being racist comes in... but still I don't feel racist, it's just that I would like to feel safer and I would not feel any safer if it was a white man! I really wouldnt! just if they were more open about what's really going on and not making us stand in an enclosed area and acting sooo suspisious.... what do you think...?
2007-10-16 08:26:40 · update #2
To be awakened and ordered around by ANY set of strangers would seem disconcerting, doubly so if they were obvious foreigners.
Racism aside, I'd have moved on to somewhere AWAY from the enclosed area, for safety's sake, to somewhere far beyond the more obvious sources of peril.
2007-10-16 08:33:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I saw call the police and/or local fire departments and ask them about it. If a public service alarm went out, then one of the two should have been dispatched. If it was some other alarm, ALL of you should have the right to know why. I can't find anything racist in your question...only fear. After all of the hate crimes that our kids in schools have had to face, the administrators should try to comfort you and HELP you, NOT make you even more fearful.
2007-10-16 08:28:12 · answer #2 · answered by getusedtoit 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Forget what everyone else already told you and listen up. Remember when the sh!t hits the fan, it is every man or woman for themselves. Get rid of this sheepish mentality like you need to follow anyones orders in a crisis situation. You are responsible for yourself so you take hold of the situation. A bomb threat or a suicidal gunmen or whatever, do not listen to anybody and get the hell out of there and ask questions later. Thats the way I see it anyways and I know I am right.
2007-10-16 09:01:48 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hon, you stated that "you wouldn't have felt any safer if it was a white man", so I'd have to say that no, you are not racist. And I do hope that all of Bush's propaganda hasn't soured you on being friends with or getting to know Muslim students. I personally think you're fortunate to live in a dorm with such a large variety of cultures... we can learn so much from others.
That being said, I live in an area with a large Muslim population and most of my doctors are Muslim: they are all, to a one, men above all others.
2007-10-16 09:10:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think after 9/11 everyone is a little more cautious. The fact that you are worried that it might be racist shows that you aren't. But it does sound odd about how you were treated when you asked about the alarm... Weird.
2007-10-16 08:30:14 · answer #5 · answered by animalover 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, you are not being either. You are being concerned. They were the ones who were taking your concerns and turning it into those things. I would find out, you have a right to know what is going on if you're going to be living there.
2007-10-16 08:33:48 · answer #6 · answered by Miss 6 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would change schools, but that's just me. To hell with all those people who won't tell you anything when you are concerned for your own safety.
2007-10-16 08:38:25 · answer #7 · answered by ♥Cherry♥ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋