Backscatter

[Waldo]

*scratching head*

How is this about classism and racism?

If the exact same things are happening in the airports - where, based on your logic, the white and economically well off are frisked, how does putting the same efforts at bus terminals translate to class and race targeting?

As for being suspect? I'm your average every day non POC appearing, economically privileged masculine appearing woman.

And, as of last night my roll of EVERY. Single. TIME I have flown during the month of November... whether the backscatter machines are in use or not, I have been pulled aside for additional screening. I expect that tomorrow morning at this time I'll be standing with my arms outstretched and having a stranger get friendly with me again.

The latest analysis of the greyhound traveler is 20 years old, so I'm going to guess there's a good chance that the demographic has shifted further toward your numbers, but in 1989 it was 70% of their travelers who earned less than $25k. I seem to recall someone on another site pointing out that there were routes on which airfare was often comparable, if not cheaper, than taking Greyhound. Or perhaps it was Amtrak that I'm thinking of?

Sorry, this particular outrage just doesn't pass the sniff test to me. It's still about money. It's being "tested" to see how much blowback they get. If the blowback is not strong you'll start seeing more and more equipment like the backscatter machines there.

Originally Posted by betenoire

This is specifically about classism and racism.

I've taken a lot of Greyhound. As someone who does not own a car and who cannot afford to fly, any time that I want to go somewhere that is within 12 hours of my home - I go there on Greyhound.

Any time that I have crossed the border from Canada to the US via Greyhound I was treated like a criminal - in ways that I was NEVER treated like a criminal when driving across the border or flying over the border. I'm not going to lie - any time I've been on a Greyhound bus 90% or more of the other passengers have been POC. I would guess that 100% of the people on the bus with me (myself included) make under 24k a year, some of us WELL under that.

To be poor or POC and ESPECIALLY to be both poor and POC is to immediately be suspect when dealing with homeland security goons.