Ordinary fellow passengers read a covered baby as a potential bomb

Evidence

“What do you think she’s got under there?” the woman asked the man. “I don’t know,” he said. “We don’t know what’s under there.” They continued to talk, and Yasmin turned to look at them. Are they for real? she thought. What do they think she’s got under there? A bomb? — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 325

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the surveillance-suspicion literature on Muslim Americans post-9/11, especially the routine ‘suspicious package’ framings that criminalize ordinary behavior.