Comparing Hysterias: America is No Different

Post 9/11 racial discrimination on airlines can be shown parallel to the Salem witch-hunt's in that people who were wrongly accused of wrong-doings were persecuted or denied simple rights. From 1692-1693, people who were accused on being a witch based on spectral evidence were either killed or put in jail with their reputation destroyed. People of ethnic backgrounds received the iron hand of injustice, being denied simple rights to board a plane due to post 9/11 hysteria. Although people accused of being dangerous on airlines were not killed or put in prison, they still took a hit to their reputation and had their lives compromised. The Salem witch trials and the hysteria following 9/11 both played important parts in the affected people's lives during their time periods.

On September 11^th, 2001, the lives of many Americans were changed forever. Two planes were hijacked, one on a course for the twin towers, and the other on a course for the pentagon. Only the twin towers destined plane made its destination, the other crashed into a corn field some distance away. As was to be imagined, all of America became hysterical due to these events. What about my plane? Am I safe? Who were the terrorists? Why did they attack us? People were looking anywhere to find answers to these questions. The terrorists turned out to be Islamic, led by Al-Qaeda. Americans began to associate any Islamic people, or even people who looked Arab or Islamic, with terrorism. On top of this, the airport is the place in which these events started. Any of these Islamic or Arab looking people visiting airports were treated with a ridiculous amount of racial profiling and hatred.

One specific case of post-911 hysteria came from a man named Michael Dasrath, a 32 year-old analyst for Morgan Stanley. Dasrath was ejected from a Continental flight on New Years Eve of 2002. The only reason that the airline has for ejecting him was that a lady on the airline gave a complaint of him "acting suspiciously". This is a clear example of harsh post-911 hysteria, where a foreign man can be ejected from an airline flight simply due to a complaint from a passenger. Many other cases just like this have sprouted all over America; even similar cases on the same airline, and even the same airport. The hysteria has somewhat subsided, but to compensate for the 'lack' of racial profiling in airports, security for all people has been tightened.

In Salem, from 1692-1693, puritans were going crazy at the idea that "witches" could be around them. The puritans believed that being a witch meant you had an association with the devil. Being extremely religious, they could not let the possibility of the devil exist in their community. Almost any person accused of witchcraft went to court. If you pleaded guilty to witchcraft, you were persecuted and your reputation was forever tarnished. If you pleaded not guilty to witchcraft, you were hung to death. This even meant that people could use this to their advantage. If you had a neighbor that was bugging you or someone who was on your nerves, you could accuse them of being a witch and ruin their life. Dreams and visions (spectral evidence) were the only types of evidence used by the courts.