Suspected suicide bomber shot at Stockwell station.

[cori]

Have just heard an unconfirmed report on the radio. Anyone else?

Blu - that is so very sad that you had to ask your Dh not to fiddle with his ipod. I think that is the saddest thing I have read on this (very sad) thread

I'm really saddened by this thread as well. Spreading fear is what these bastards want. As long as ANYONE lets them have that, it diminishes the lives of those who were killed on the 7th.

If anything, we should be making even more of an effort to reach out to one another - no matter what the colour of our skin or our creed.

I used to pass by that mosque across the square where I work. Now, I think I'm going to join in their 'Understanding Islam' week rather than walking by.

I'm not offended, I'm just desparately upset by what this has done to us all. All of us.

And lots of love to blu and www and kelly, btw. It is awful for Asian men atm. Just awful.

Fio dh and I live in London - we handed our resignations in today and are moving back to NZ after 5.5yrs away - it isn't worth the stress. We are lucky we have a choice. I don't think you are over-reacting. We made a choice 2 wks ago that we wouldn't catch tubes or buses again, bought bikes, and then when it happened yesterday we just thought why are we doing this and living like this. I don't think we are the only ones leaving.

Actually I wonder of you might eb missing the point a little QofQ.
I do think that if the bombers were business types carrying brief cases - everyone would be avoiding them and not the guys with ipods and rucksacks.

Am I right?

But www it is surely equally NOT FAIR on all men if women won't stay in railway carriages with them?? It's not sexism!
How can it be racist if this doesn't apply to women and men of all colours and ages without rucksacks?

aloha and everyone else who would get off a bus if an asian/black man with a bag got on, you are making assumptions based on the colour of someone's skin. You are, otherwise you wouldn't get off.

Hello?! Once again, the world is full of female suicide bombers as well. And suicide bombers also wear explosives as belts.

Chuffed I'm really sorry to read that!

No Caligula, I don't. I would move if alone and I felt uneasy, and that isn't sexist because I don't go round assuming every man is a potential rapist, whereas some people are assumign that every asian with a large bag is a potential suicide bomber.

It the overgeneralisations that cause problems.

And yes, if there were a spate of bombing committed by redheads with briefcases, that's what I would avoid. Exactly.
I think it's all crap too. I wish this hadn't happened too.
And Blu, I'm really sorry. It's very hard to say honestly how you would react without giving offence. Dh's friend and colleague (only colleague!!) at work (black with light skin) is also feeling very jumpy atm.

I've read quite a lot of accounts from Asian men saying that they feel under scrutiny on the tube now, and i admit that my instinctive reaction is slight disbelief - the tubes I get on always have lots of Asian men on them, and nobody seems to be staring at them/moving away. Life seems to continue just as normal.

But then, I am white. dp is black and our relationship has taught me a lot about how subtly racism works, and what it must be like to always be aware of the almost imperceptible shifts in atmosphere that can occur - the slight moving away, raising of tension, tightening of hand on handbag clasp etc. And how profoundly alienating this is, how strong a reminder that, 'You do not really belong; you are not 'normal'; I find you threatening and alien'.

I think it must be horrid for men to feel not trusted as individuals because of the crimes committed by them as a group. But I hope they are big enough to understand and cope with women's fears. Men AS A GROUP are not disadvantaged/alienated from society, and the implications of this are very different from the implications of avoiding proximity with black/asian people.

I'm NOT making assumptions - I know that of al the recent bombing the majority have been by young asian men with rucksacks. That's not an assumption. Of course I don't think all young asian men are bombers - I'm not stupid! But some have been, and I would be extremely cautious atm.

And that is your choice Dino just as is it my choice not to get on a bus or tube.

To be honest, thinking about what Chuffed has said, i don't think i would actually get on a bus or a tube full stop, regardless of who was or wasn't on it. I just wouldn't put myself in that situation

I would get off a bus, train, leave a room, whatever, if there was anyone that made me uncomfortable regardless of race, religion, gender or age.

and today's man was 'apparently' not carrying a bag.....

I'm very sad that these racist (and I'm sorry they ARE racist because not all muslims are asians and vice versa) things are being said.

Just found this (according to the 2001 Census information)

"The number of people describing themselves as Muslim in the census, which recorded religion for the first time, comes to 1,546,626, of whom 179,773 say they are white. "

There are nearly 1 million Sikhs. Yet only about 2 millions 'asians'. There are plenty of 'no relgion', 'christian' and other religion asians - so therefore not all muslims are asian.

So perhaps we should just avoid ALL men (and women as they carry out sucide bombs in other parts of the world) aged between about 15-30 carrying rucksacks?

is something happening at parliamwnt square now, reports of armed police taking someone with a hold all to the ground on radio5.

Qof Q there seems to be some disagreement over today's amn ahving a bag, on BBc they were saying no one saw a bag but on Ch5 they are saying he had a holdall.

OK fine QoQ - think what you like.

well, you'd better get practising your big grin dino, so that you'll be ready when we're on the same bus, tube or train.

Good post, hester.