Security registration programs racialize groups by concretizing essentialized categories

Evidence

For what is a racial profile if not a doppelganger made by the state? In practice, that meant that passengers with common names like Mohammed (never mind Osama) had to contend with the very real possibility that they had landed on some top secret, error-riddled no-fly list, which could get them pulled off a plane for special questioning or, worse, hooded and “rendered” to one of the Bush administration’s new “black sites.” The anti-Chinese scapegoating drummed up in the Covid era (with my doppelganger and her relentless spinning of CCP bioweapon plots playing no small role) has cast such an ominous shadow over Asian life that roughly one-third of Asian Americans polled by Pew Research in the spring of 2022 reported changing their daily routines to avoid being targeted by hate crimes. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 925 (#expands, via linked claim)

When people or objects are categorized into groups, actual differences between members of the same category tend to be perceptually minimized (Tajfel, 1969) and often ignored in making decisions or forming impressions. Members of the same category seem to be more similar than they actually are, and more similar than they were before they were categorized together (see Judd & Park, ch. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 550 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Surveillance itself racializes target groups into a suspicious race — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 75; Surveillance registration programs racialize Arabs and Muslims by codifying essentialized categories — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 552; Color-blind security practices racialize without any actor believing they are racist — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 576 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Security practices racialize suspect groups without anyone involved believing they are racist #expands (0.85)
• State racial profiling functions as a state-manufactured doppelganger #expands (0.85) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 925
• Race-neutral rhetoric coexists with licensed racial profiling for security and policing #expands (0.80)
• Categorizing people into groups minimizes perceived within-group differences #expands (0.80) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 550
• Automated recommendation systems reproduce and intensify offline racial discrimination. #corroborates (0.75) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 36
• Race categories shift with historical power configurations #qualifies (0.75)