Flying while Muslim – Islamophobia in the Air

on Sunday, January 20, 2013

After slavery was abolished and the civil war concluded, the United States federalism structure and global economic boom resulted in America the most multi-ethnic society in the world. Today, the land of the individual freedom has the busiest airports by passenger traffic and the busiest city airport system in the world. Experts suggest that the U.S. will facilitate over one billion passengers annually in the years to come. Airports Council International, an organization that promotes standards that world’s airports and airport management must adhere to, constantly develops new policies in order to ensure security in American airports so as to prevent another attack like that on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

A number of policies have been developed on security-specific issues as well as measures to control access to American airports. For example, passengers that are not authorized to be at an airport can be challenged and reported to the law enforcement agencies. People with violations are prevented from traveling in the future until they receive clearance from these security and intelligence forces. It is now virtually impossible to check into an airport in the United States without having an identification card.

Many criticize the United States airport security teams for not being fair with security measures. Although racial profiling is strictly forbidden by American law, some argue that security forces take into account the race and nationality of a person when deciding how much to screen them before entering the airport and boarding a flight. Acting on suspicions that reply on race or ethnicity should be outlawed. If a blatant instance of racial profiling occurs, one should immediately report the unequal treatment under the law. In 2010, the State of Arizona enacted  the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. This controversial legislation received international condemnation and domestic protests because it allows ethnic identity and ethnic behavior to be reasonable suspicion measures to start procedure of investigating immigration status and registration documents of aliens in Arizona.

Islamophobia has been defined as an irrational fear or prejudice against Muslims or of Islam. Islamophobia is one of the many forms of intolerance to the representatives of a religious minority. One form of Islamophobia is when Muslims are denied boarding a flight without any explanation at all, or if they are escorted out of an airplane without justification. The expression “flying while Muslim” refers to the incidents and problems which Muslims  still face on planes flying to and from the United States.

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