Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines

Evidence

Bilal’s darker skin may have incited the security agent to ask if he was Muslim. When he confirmed the officer’s suspicion that he was a Muslim, the TSA agent proceeded to search his personal belongings. Bilal’s American passport should have granted him reentry into America with ease, yet because he was a Muslim, the borders tightened when he attempted to come back in. His status as an American citizen did not protect him from being profiled because his Muslim identity negates his status as an American. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 222 (#expands, via linked claim)

Using federally funded lists in airports is one example of how the state institutionalizes and participates in the racialization of Muslim bodies through hypersurveillance because of the War on Terror. The profiling of Muslim men in airports is not random, but systemic. Even after TSA agents interrogated Muslim men and it was determined it was safe for them to board an airplane, they were still subjected to surveillance the next time they flew. The act of being stopped, searched and interrogated publicly because of one’s religious identity confirms to the public your body is suspect and should be surveilled. The examples provided previously show that the state is not targeting specific nationalities or ethnicities, but Muslims in general. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 285 (#expands, via linked claim)

The majority of the Muslim men I interviewed told me they were on some list at airports. The Muslim women I interviewed told me they were not on a TSA list like Muslim men, indicating that the state targets mostly men for surveillance through these terrorist databases. However, Muslim women who wear the hijab were subjected to profiling by TSA agents. The women I spoke to told me they were repeatedly stopped and had their bodies and personal belongings searched at the airport security line by TSA agents. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 70 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 260; Airports function as a panopticon where Muslims must prove loyalty to avoid discipline. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 323; Light-skinned Muslims can pass as white and escape airport profiling (+11 more)

Related

• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random (similarity 0.91)
• Airports function as Foucault’s panopticon for Muslim Americans (similarity 0.90)
• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling (similarity 0.89)
• Listed Muslim travelers are routinely pulled for pat-downs at airport checkpoints (similarity 0.88)
• Airport profiling targets all Muslims, not just Arabs or specific nationalities (similarity 0.88)
• Named Muslim men on the Selectee List endure stacked layers of airport checks (similarity 0.87)
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance (similarity 0.87)
• Airport profiling collapses religious identity and racial appearance into a single target (similarity 0.86)
• Airport profiling targets Muslims as a religious class, not any specific nationality (similarity 0.86)
• State profiling legitimizes fellow passengers to report Muslims as suspicious (similarity 0.86)
• Airport surveillance publicly signals to the population that Muslims are potential terrorists (similarity 0.85)
• Airlines accommodate passenger racism, normalizing fear of Muslims (similarity 0.85)
• Airport surveillance differentially targets men via lists and hijab-wearing women via physical searches (similarity 0.85)
• Light-skinned Muslims can pass as white and escape airport profiling (similarity 0.85)
• TSA agents profile hijab-wearing Muslim women based on racial cues, not watchlists. (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling #expands (0.75) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 222
• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random #expands (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 285
• Airport surveillance differentially targets men via lists and hijab-wearing women via physical searches #expands (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 70
• Airport profiling targets all Muslims, not just Arabs or specific nationalities #expands (0.60)
• Airports function as panopticons where Muslim Americans self-police ordinary behaviors. #responds-to (0.50) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 323
• Airport hypersurveillance forces Muslims into DuBoisian double consciousness #complicates (0.45) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 151