Even secular, non-practicing Muslim professionals face surveillance based on name alone

Evidence

Hamza, a thirty-four-year-old Pakistani American man, was born in the northeastern United States and grew up in the Midwest. He went to college and law school in the Midwest and is a lawyer in the Chicago area, where he lives in an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood. He identifies as Muslim, but at the time of the interview did not belong to any religious organizations or go to a mosque, with the exception of on Muslim holidays or when visiting family. He was in Europe when 9/11 happened, attending a rock concert. He flew back to the United States on Air India and expected to have a hard time at customs because of his ethnic and religious identity. He was surprised to get through customs quickly that day, but described the next few years after 9/11 as a time when he felt unfairly targeted by airport security: “I would have to go through heightened security. Maybe two years after 9/11, I found out I was on put on the TSA list.” I asked him if he knew why. — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 172

Categorization

• XREF: Hamza’s profile (lawyer, affluent white neighborhood, no mosque) is the reader’s key evidence that surveillance targets a racialized identity rather than religious practice or class — directly bearing on the religion-vs-race question.