Thoughts while waiting in line

by Andrea Miño V.

I stand in line waiting for my turn. Sleepy and confused, after a 3 hour fly and a 24 hour sleepless mark, I arrive to Miami International Airport. I have heard that Miami International airport is a huge airport and, therefore, a huge mess. As I wait in the endless line (about an hour and a half later) and get closer to the custom checkpoint I begin to “pick” the officer I want to be interviewed by. I don’t have many options but I look for friendliness or, at least, not a rude contact. A military-like scream breaks my concentration as one of the officers yells at a civilian who dared to advance in line without his previous authorization,  “STOP! I didn’t tell you to move”. We stand quietly. Definitely, I know which line not to go.

I recall that story as I wait in line, again, for security check on our way to Atlanta from Columbus. A list of direction fill the air like a mantra: “Take your shoes off, put your laptop by itself, each item in a separate tray”. The orders are straightforward. We all perform them in a ceremony like motion, some of us getting unnecessarily nervous. Trying to pick the right officer, trying not to miss the directions, trying to be aware and submissive, trying to not give a reason to argue, but why? An officer’s voice breaks my thoughts “I said, put the laptop by itself!”, he speaks loud. The person he is addressing to looks nervous and afraid, she freezes briefly not sure if she understood. Somebody else helps her. That’s it! The fear of doing something wrong and the possible consequences is what makes some of us sweat and breathe deeply as we approach these security points in the US.

CROSSING LINES

Things have changed since 9/11, that’s for sure. In 2003, during Bush’s Administration, the CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) was created. This branch of the US Homeland Security Department was the result of merging the duties of Customs Services and Border Patrol into a single and more effective unit. The Customs officer who checked my documents in Miami informed me about the unit and its security procedure as he took my fingerprints and a picture (I was able to “pick” a friendly Latino descendent as my Custom officer. He chatted about the CBP’s creation, his duties on the field, his work done in the Mexican border 5 years ago. During that time he learned spanish, and he was proud of his Mexican accent. I didn’t want to shatter his dreams but he sounded pretty caribbean to me).

As result of 9/11 the Patriot Act was signed, prioritizing homeland security's procedures and attacking civil liberties, with consequences that last until today. As result of 9/11 the fine line between privacy and security was crossed, and with it came a huge division, just as George W. Bush declared a war “between good and evil”. There was a difference between  “USA” and the “Others” which resulted in major inequalities and discrimination, racial profiling, religious targeting, and higher levels of deportation. In the process of protecting themselves we, the “Others”, feared and still fear the possible consequences of not being one of “US”.

My colleague from China comments, as we chat about security checkpoints, that after 9/11 “America lost its innocence”. I partially agree with her.

The anxiety we might feel from those military like procedures (without mentioning the invasive ones, like X-ray machines and extra body padding) comes from a vulnerability the US feels, the fear of being victims of an attack in their own territory again. There is no doubt the high impact such incident caused in the political and cultural set of mind in United States citizens and government. But I would personally consider that 9/11 magnified something that was there before, America had lost its innocence many decades ago, possibly centuries, and the outcome reads as a culture of fear.

I remember watching the news before 9/11 in United States. There was always something “scary” to watch at 5 o’clock news, something along the lines of: “....And when we come back! Something in your food might be killing you during your sleep. After the break we will tell you what it is”. It is not surprising that a satirical newspaper pointed out the terrorist attack as “American Life Turns Into Bad Jerry Bruckheimer Movie” since Hollywood had done its share to increase fear and paranoia, and still does.

GUNS AND COFFEE: CULTURE OF FEAR

After going through a security checkpoint on my way to Columbus a T-shirt logo calls my attention. I spot a person’s back with the logo of a commercial coffee shop, I recognized the mermaid that is part of it, but the name of the coffee shop has been replaced by the words “Guns and Coffee”.

It is worldwide known the current problems the US is facing regarding the right of guns ownership. During my three weeks stay in the United States 2 major events have been part of the news: a shooting in Tennessee killing 4 marines and a sailor, and a shooting in a Louisiana movie theater killing two women.

President Obama has voiced his frustration these days because of the impossibility of creating better guns legislation, but I wonder: Regulating or prohibiting guns access will solve the problem?  All I can think of is Sandra Bland stepping up to the fear she is supposed to feel towards the authority and denying to put her cigarette out. All I can think of is the police officer feeling fearful, anxious and angry. Another story that didn’t end well during the past weeks. Guns are a problem, but fearful people can be as dangerous as a loaded gun.

The culture of fear is permeating other areas of US society. Fears from the past have raised up stronger than ever. If during Post 9/11 the Middle Easterns took it hard, nowadays the African Americans are the fearful suspects and victims of fear as well, who will be next? Without having answers to my own questions I wonder, what would have happened if I misheard a cue in the security check, moved too fast or too slow, or just simply didn’t understand the language?, after all it is a foreign country airport with a foreign language. Fear is in the air and “we”, “us”, “the others” are breathing it all at the same time.

On children and guns

By Lionel Brossi, Chile (SUSI scholar 2014)

The road to Chillicothe, Ohio, reminded me the surroundings of Valdivia, a small city in the South of Chile, where meandering rivers and native forest providing a kind of eternal mist, create an atmosphere similar to that of the tales of knight-errantry. 

We went to see the Tecumseh! drama, which takes place in an inmense amphitheatre sorrounded by nature, next to the Great Seal State Park. The play tells the story of  Shawnee, a native american leader from the XVI century, who fights to protect his homeland and his people from the American  settlers. Although some scenes could be quite violent for children (some of the assisting kids were  covering their eyes and ears at certain moments), the play was more than interesting and it worth the visit.

The theatre complex includes a prehistoric indian mini-museum, a terrace buffet, a snacks store and the “Mountain Gallerie Free Shop”, where enthusiastic parents were buying toy-weapons for their children. There were two kinds of weapons on sale: those used by the indians –bow and arrow- and those used by the settlers: rifles and shotguns.

Before the play had started, dozens of children were playing with their plastic shotguns pointing each-other, to their parents, to other people in the theatre and also to the yet empty stage. I guess that shotguns were much more popular than bows and arrows.  During the play, the intermetzzo and at the end of the drama, the kids were more excited about playing and some parents were proudly taking pictures of them while posing with their guns.

This whole scene brought to my mind the work of the photographer An-Sofie Kesteleyn, who traveled to the US to visit rifle ranges in Ohio and other southern states, where children learn the necessary skills to use a weapon and to shoot propperly. Part of her work and the story can be seen in this article from The Guardian’s journalist Sean O’Hagan. What strikes me most about these photographs is that the weapons used by children are not toys, but real guns in blue and pink.

Hard facts

According to The State of America Children’s last report 2014, 2,694 children, including teenagers, were killed by guns in 2010 and 15,576 children and teens were injured by guns, meaning that one child or teen was killed or injured every 30 minutes, 50 every day, and 351 every week. The report also shows the following stats,  depicting the astounding difference between US gun death in children and other high income countries.

The following video produced by the non profit news organization Mother Jones, shows in numbers and visualizations how many children were killed by guns in the US between the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 and december 2013.

We mostly know about US children dying in massacres through mainstream media, which in general give a deep coverage of this kind of events, taking advantage of the profit generated by violent images and dramatic stories that attract bigger audiences. But the truth, is that there are so many cases that are left behind: those children who die alone in their own homes because of gun shoots,  either by accident or by murder.

It was a fake!

Last tuesday, in the peaceful city of Athens in Ohio, after participating in an inspiring session of the SUSI program at the Scripps School of Journalism, all the scholars were adviced that there was a possible shooting on campus, in a residence hall located on the East Green area.  These were the news on twitter:

Helicopters, police cars, ambulances and media were in minutes sorrounding the area.  Most of us went to our dorms and stayed there until receiving the good news: every place was inspected and nothing was found, not even a witness of the possible shooting.  

Compulsive Obsessive

In Spanish, we have the expression "deformación profesional", meaning some kind of "professional obsession or misconduct", referring mainly to when you keep working in the moments you shouldn't. While waiting for the news, I did some little research on school shootings in Ohio since 1864 until present and added the data into a map (feel free to click on the red pins to expand the information).

Finally, the case was a fake alarm, but I must say that it was quite an uncomfortable and a bit scary situation for all of us who were on campus.  Just in case, I also found these instructions on how to respond to an active shooter.

I think in all the above stories and numbers there is a common place: how much damage causes to a peaceful society the promotion and use of fire weapons and how worse it gets when parents grow their children in a gun friendly environment.

The promoted idea that “arming more adults will protect kids” falls into pieces when we see the story of school massacres and dead children by fireguns in the country. Just see the numbers, see all the stories behind them. 

I know. Life is a death to come. But why should we rush it?

Lionel Brossi. Instituto de la Comunicación e Imagen. Universidad de Chile. lionel.brossi@u.uchile.cl