Airlines accommodate passenger racism, normalizing fear of Muslims

Evidence

Although the flight attendant told the passenger it was not the airline’s policy to allow customers to choose their seatmates, the attendant accommodated his request by allowing him to sit in the back of the plane. The compliance of the airline to the request of the passenger is telling. By accommodating racist attitudes toward Muslims, the message is that Muslims are not worthy of protection from humiliation and racism because the state has confirmed they are dangerous through its security policies. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 336 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

While Saleem felt it was a shared Middle Eastern heritage that resulted in their profiling, other interviewees reveal that this is not limited to just Middle Easterners but also includes South Asians because it is the religious identity that is targeted. The calling out of Muslim names for additional security screening serves to further associate Muslim bodies with terror in front of their fellow passengers, creating an inequitable flying experience. This public display of security segregates passengers into two groups: those who are a potential threat, and those who are worthy of protection from this threat. The fact that nearly all the names called out for additional security were Muslim names supports the claim that the Selectee and No-Fly lists target Muslims. In this instance, American Airlines performed security in front of some passengers by racially profiling its Muslim clientele. It is no surprise, then, that passengers feel justified in reporting Muslims as suspicious to flight attendants on airplanes; they take their cues from the state. When the state participates in racially profiling passengers based on a religious identity in a public fashion, citizens feel justified in reporting their fellow passengers as suspicious for doing things like speaking Arabic or wearing the hijab when flying. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 197 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Airline accommodation of passenger racism signals Muslims are unworthy of protection — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 336; Airline accommodation of racist seatmate requests normalizes anti-Muslim fear. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 336; Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines (+5 more)

Related

• Airline accommodation of racist seatmate requests normalizes anti-Muslim fear. (similarity 0.92)
• Airline accommodation of passenger racism signals Muslims are unworthy of protection (similarity 0.91)
• Muslim passengers are marked on their tickets with four Ss without knowing it (similarity 0.86)
• State profiling legitimizes fellow passengers to report Muslims as suspicious (similarity 0.86)
• Airlines accommodating seatmate-bias complaints normalize Muslim threat fears and racialize travelers (similarity 0.86)
• Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines (similarity 0.85)
• Airport profiling collapses religious identity and racial appearance into a single target (similarity 0.83)
• Airports function as Foucault’s panopticon for Muslim Americans (similarity 0.81)
• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random (similarity 0.80)
• A Muslim family was removed from a flight for requesting a booster seat (similarity 0.80)
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance (similarity 0.79)
• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling (similarity 0.79)
• Airport surveillance publicly signals to the population that Muslims are potential terrorists (similarity 0.79)
• Light-skinned Muslims can pass as white and escape airport profiling (similarity 0.78)
• Airports function as panopticons where Muslim Americans self-police ordinary behaviors. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Airline accommodation of racist seatmate requests normalizes anti-Muslim fear. #corroborates (0.95) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 336
• State profiling legitimizes fellow passengers to report Muslims as suspicious #expands (0.65) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 197
• Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines #qualifies (0.60)
• State-perpetuated fear racializes Muslim bodies as terrorist enemies #expands (0.60)
• The hijab functions as a racial marker that triggers airport surveillance #exemplifies (0.60) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 224
• The travel ban instantiated a broader structural Islamophobia tying Muslim identity to terror suspicion #complicates (0.55) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 469
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance #qualifies (0.55) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 260