Muslim family removed from AirTran flight for "safest seat" remark

"The conversation, as we were walking through the plane trying to find our seats, was just about where the safest place in an airplane is," Sahin said. "We were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front, but that's it. We didn't say anything else that would raise any suspicion." The conversation did not contain the words "bomb," "explosion," "terror" or other words that might have aroused suspicion, Irfan said.

Another case of "flying while Muslim."

Anti-Obama (anti-Arab) anger erupts at McCain events

Sen. John McCain greets supporters at a rally in La Crosse, Wis., on Friday.

A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Barack Obama. They're making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar," and even "off with his head" have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.

Something to note. The clip shown on TV is a woman voicing her distrust of Obama because she mistakenly believes he is "an Arab." McCain responds "no, no, he is a good man." Notice that McCain does not make the wider argument that being Arab does not automatically make one bad - he simply comments that Obama is not Arab, therefore Obama is not bad. For those who think America has made great progress when it comes to race relations, think again. The above exchange would indicate otherwise - at least when it comes to Arabs.

Does Obama's win show US is colorblind?

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., shakes hands at a rally, Saturday Jan. 5, 2008, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

"Whether Obama's appeal stretches beyond the farm fields of Iowa will become clear over the next month as the freshman senator faces a series of tests on different political terrain — beginning with Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire, another overwhelmingly white state."

The states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Tennessee are still ahead. The US south is the true test and I doubt the US is as colorblind as the Iowa vote would suggest.