Come Fly With Me! - The Racial Caste System of American Airports

by Alexander Macdonald


9 January 2004

The dictionary defines 'microcosm' as:

\Mi"cro*cosm\, n. [F. microcosme, L. microcosmus, fr. Gr. mikro`s small + ko`smos the world.] A little world; a miniature universe. Hence (so called by Paracelsus), a man, as a supposed epitome of the exterior universe or great world.

Today, major airports in the United States can be seen as a microcosm of the sort of society America is headed towards. As a European whose job provides opportunities to travel to the eastern seaboard of North America, I find observing the racial hierarchy of the airport to be instructive.

The first surprise awaiting the uninitiated visitor to the U.S. is the overwhelming number of blacks and Mexicans working at large US air hubs. One gets the impression that airports are a massive boon to the employment of negroes and mestizos for miles around, and it is particularly worrying to note the substantial presence of Mexican menial workers even in Northeastern states. Short, brown Spanish-speakers appear to be encroaching on the menial airport jobs that would otherwise fall to negroes. Perhaps Mexicans work harder than blacks, or their slightly more passive demeanour gives them an employment advantage over the majority of negroes, who tend to affect a sullen and unfriendly aspect.

Either way, in the racial caste system of the U.S. airport, blacks and hispanics dominate the lowest-paid and least mentally challenging roles: those of cleaner, porter, baggage-handler, bus driver, burger-flipper. Occasionally, one sees a racial wildcard in these positions, i.e. arabs, orientals, or even wizened Indian women (from India) who in a sane world would be back along the banks of the Ganges instead of pushing elderly white people around in wheelchairs, but these are exceptions.

It is common to see groups of negro porters lounging around in all-black groups, jabbering loudly in Ebonics and gesticulating wildly. On the rare occasion one sees predominantly-white groups of airport workers clustered together for a break, they are usually pilots and stewardesses quietly sipping coffee and nibbling at the bistro. The difference in what one VNN writer called "Racial Molecular Atmospherics is striking.

Before 911, I understand that U.S. security personnel were also largely black. In fact, this is still the case and I once nearly missed a final boarding call because the negro metal-detector attendant, a disgustingly obese man who appeared too rotund to pass through his own machine, was forcing a young white mother and her two blonde daughters (who couldn't have been any older than six) to remove their shoes and hairbands (!) and have them X-Rayed before being allowed to pass. The negro appeared to enjoy using his petty authority to the full - just ahead of me in the queue a black youth dressed in baggy pants and corn-rows was able to pass him by without the same level of scrutiny so diligently applied to the blonde six-year-old potential suicide bombers.

However, since the World Trade Center bombing, a new layer of security has been installed in U.S. airports and is overwhelmingly composed of white men. The Transport Security Administration (TSA) is a Federal body which employs tens of thousands of people to screen luggage for bombs. Possibly the relatively low percentage of negroes and hispanics in this body is explained by the fact that:

"The law requires the screeners to be American citizens and high school graduates. They also must be able to read and write English, along with other requirements." - The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 04 2002.

It is obvious that -- for now -- competence is considered a higher priority than political correctness in hiring TSA personnel. How long this situation can endure in an atmosphere of entrenched legal priviliges for underqualified minorities is uncertain.

I have already commented on the white dominance of roles like pilot and stewardess. (And it is also interesting that large numbers of gay men find employment as stewards.) The demands of these jobs - competence and intelligence for pilots; empathy and cheerfulness for stewardesses -- make it near-impossible for your average Shaquawn and Shaniqua to break through. In fact, most non-white stewardesses seem to be mulattoes.

Travelling through major airports is a stressful and unpleasant experience for most white people. Apart from the purgatory of delays, missed connections, and awful food, the hordes of brown, shifty-eyed menial workers and petty bureaucrats who can barely contain their hostility towards whites makes one long for the glory days of air travel, as seen in the recent movie, "Catch Me If You Can." In the 1960s, the airport was a glamourous and exciting place, flying was luxurious, and passengers were treated like royalty. This was in a brighter, whiter America before the toxic effects of the jew-sponsored 1965 immigration act and affirmative action.

We cannot revive the past, but a brighter and whiter future is well within our potential. White racial consciousness is slowly but definitely growing. With strength, joy, and steady effort, we will win. Straighten up and fly right, white man.

ALEXANDER MACDONALD

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