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NEW
JERSEY
P.O.
Box 531, West Caldwell, NJ 07007
June 3, 2003
George D. Warrington
Executive Director
New Jersey Transit Corporation
One Penn Plaza East
Newark, NJ 07105-2246
Re:
Incident of May 22, 2003 on Northeast Corridor Train
Dear
Mr. Warrington:
I
write on behalf of the New Jersey Chapter of the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee, a national civil rights organization based
in Washington DC that is committed to defending the civil rights of and
combating discrimination against Arab Americans.
We write to express our concern regarding
an incident that occurred on Thursday,
May 22, 2003 on the Northeast Corridor train no. 3833,
which departed New York Penn Station at 10:05 A.M.
While
collecting tickets from riders traveling between New York and Newark, New
Jersey, a conductor made disparaging public commentary to the people in
one of the train cars following an announcement on the public address
system regarding the national "Orange Alert" and checking for
suspicious activities. This
conductor, who was a middle-aged white male of medium build and height,
remarked to the entire car of passengers that "We should send them
all back!" When asked who
he meant by "them", he replied "the Arabs - All 5 million
of them." Several
passengers openly disagreed with him and finally he left the car.
This conductor, like many
individuals in this country, has apparently interpreted the events of 9-11
and the security climate in this country as a blanket license to cultivate
hate against Arab Americans. The
federal Homeland Security Department's alert system does not give license
to New Jersey Transit conductors to make such discriminatory remarks or to
treat passengers in this manner. Although
this conductor certainly
has every right to his opinions, he does not have the right to impose his
bigotry on passengers. As
an employee of a publicly-funded transportation corporation, he must serve
all members of the public without regard to race, ethnic background, or
religious belief.
We therefore request that New Jersey Transit investigate this
incident and take any necessary action to ensure that its employees are
properly trained and treat all passengers with the respect and dignity to
which they are entitled under federal, state and local laws.
We look forward to following up with you regarding the specific ways in
which NJ Transit intends to address this situation.
In the meantime, please feel free to call me with any questions.
Thank you for your anticipated assistance.
Respectfully,
Maha Munayyer
ADC-NJ Chapter
President
(201) 225-0067
cc: Customer
Service
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