Still Not Safe to Fly While Brown

It's 2009, but innocent people are still being harassed in the new year. Nine Muslim passengers on a New Year's Day flight on AirTran were kicked off a flight after others flying reportedly heard remarks about airport security. Because of the confusion, that was eventually cleared up, no one was able to fly. AirTran has since issued an official apology to the nine passengers.

One of the passengers said the confusion started at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., when he talked about the safest place to sit on an airplane.

Orlando-based AirTran said in a statement that it refunded the passengers' air fare and planned to reimburse them for replacement tickets they bought on US Airways. AirTran also offered to take the passengers back to Washington free of charge. [USA Today]

There may be some people who still think President-Elect Barack Obama is Muslim, but he has his own plane to avoid these incidents. Unfortunately, an American family with young children on the way to a religious retreat still cannot.