Ramadan Reflection Day 9: Racial Profiling

[justarslan]

Ramadan Reflection Day 9: Racial Profiling
By Imam Khalid Latif

I'm about to board a flight to Houston at NYC's LaGuardia Airport. My flight is boarding in about 25 minutes. I checked-in at home and got here about 15 minutes ago.

There used be a time when I took domestic flights that I wasn't allowed to check-in from home and had to plan to be at the airport two hours before a domestic flight. When I would get to the airport, my boarding pass would print with "SSSS" on it, signifying that I was some kind of security threat. When it became my turn in line with the TSA agent checking IDs and boarding passes, a call would be made to a supervisor who would then escort me through the security line, place my belongings in a red bin as opposed to the regular grey one, and once I went through the metal detector, would be escorted to a glass encased box, one side of which was a bar that dropped behind me, I guess in case I tried to run away. The glass panels I guess were so everyone who was about to get on the plane with me could watch what was happening. I'm sure they found that comforting and appreciated it.

Another TSA worker would then come up to me while I was in the box. "Mr. Latif, we are going to do an extended pat-down on you at this time. I will be patting down your entire body with my hands including running a finger through your neckline and waistline. When I get to your more sensitive areas, such as your inner groin and backside, I will use the back of my hands instead of the front of them. Are you comfortable with this?" I would let a out a deep sigh, as in my mind I'm thinking, "Yes, I obviously was hoping to get felt up by a strange man this morning."

After that my belongings were searched through and then I would be told, "Thank you. Enjoy your flight."

There also used to be a time when I took international flights, I would be detained coming into the country. Whether I was traveling for work, in an official capacity on behalf of the State Department, or for leisure, I was consistently stopped. It got to the the point that I couldn't even get off the plane by myself. Our flight would land on the runway and an announcement would be made to have passports ready as TSA was doing random checks as we disembarked. Essentially I was the random check. When the two TSA agents at the door of the plane came to me and my passport in the line, the one who found me would say to the other, "I've found him," and then the two would escort me to the detaining room for a period of two to six hours at time. The room was full of people from very diverse backgrounds, mostly minorities.

I came to learn that it was best to travel without any electronics, as this prolonged the process. As my belongings were searched through, some of the TSA agents themselves became frustrated after finding my NYPD credentials or my State Department letters. I would be asked, "Why are we stopping you?" and my response would be, "If you don't know why you are stopping me, how am I supposed to know?"

After being stopped for three consecutive weekends straight, I asked one of the TSA workers who now knew me by name why he thought I was being stopped. "You're young. You're male. And you're Muslim. Those three things don't go so well together right now."

I didn't really understand the impact it was having on me until my wife and I traveled together for the first time for our honeymoon. We went to St. Lucia and our entry point back in the United States was through Miami. As we got up to leave the plane, I told her to not get off with me, as I didn't want her to somehow get detained as well. Two of our friends, Shala and Faraz, were going to be meeting us at the airport and Priya would hang out with them while I was being held.

She, of course, insisted on walking with me. We got out of the plane and no one was there to take me away. I assumed that it was because we were in Miami, and my usual entry point to the USA was through NYC when returning from an international visit. We then went through the customs check and I told her it might happen here, but then nothing happened. We then walked through the baggage claim, something I had not done without an escort for almost three years, and as we neared the exit I kept looking over my shoulder to see if someone was coming to stop me. We made it to the public area of the airport and Priya joked with me saying that she's my good luck charm and it's because I married her that I was not stopped. I responded by putting my arms around her, my head on her shoulder, and crying for the next few minutes.

Just because I am a Muslim, does not mean I am a threat. Just because I am Muslim, doesn't justify me being treated differently from anyone else. People every day are facing this reality because of their skin color, country of origin, culture, ethnicity, religious affiliation and many other variables. The emotional anxiety that is felt is not really describable. I've seen women who are pregnant in the detaining rooms and grandmothers in the glass box as their grandchildren watch them go through these experiences. To anyone who has gone through something similar, I'm sorry that you have been treated like that. It's not OK for you to be singled out or for anyone to justify a racist profiling of you and people like you. Be strong and true to who you are. The solution is not to hide yourself, but empower yourself, share your story and ensure that you are doing what you can so that those who come after you won't have to go through something similar.

I'm about to board my plane. The desk attendant just asked for us to have our boarding passes and ID cards ready as TSA is going to do a random search. Let's hope I didn't speak too soon

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-k...b_1714538.html

[kingusama92]

I responded by putting my arms around her, my head on her shoulder, and crying for the next few minutes.

Seriously?

[FusedBulb]

Originally Posted by justarslan Ramadan Reflection Day 9: Racial Profiling We went to St. Lucia

lol ... Son, it has gone to the next level.
Last time when I was returning from St. Lucia with my wife and kids, we were stopped for that "special security checkup" right at the St. Lucian Hewanorra airport. The St, Lucian airport official who was checking-in my passport looked to have gotten electrostatic shock as he looked at his computer screen and felt as if some sorta monster was about to jump outta it. He got into a subtle panic and looked at me and my family as if we were aliens ... after a few moments of confusion and pressing random buttons on his keyboard he went to his supervisor and all of a sudden about 5 of them were trying to figure out how to turn off that alarming red flags on their system. They were looking at us with some really weird eyes.
Finally, two of them escorted us away, our bags were opened up, a thorough searched was done, and we were boarded. Upon landing into JFK the immigration officer looked at me and said it with a sweet chuckle ... you are going to that room, you know that right? I smiled back and said yeah I know.
So I was escorted to "that room", I saw a few other guys sitting in there and I loudly said ... OK, So all the "Mohammads" are here ... there was a laugh and smiles.
Anyway, it took only a few minutes and I was cleared. The officer told me that he has "tried" to clear my name and hopefully next time I won't be stopped. Now we will see what happens next time.

I think we should not tag it as "Racial profiling". Being American Citizens it's our utmost duty to gladly cooperate with law enforcement authorities. It makes their job easy and saves our time as well.

I do have an opinion about one of the processes they follow ...

Say I check-in at the airport and went thru all the bells and whistles of security check-up. The airport authorities and TSA are fully satisfied. I get on board and soon as the plane starts to fly, some Hillbilly gets a panic attack looking at my dress or my beard, and frantically presses the button and tells the air hostess that he feels threatened travelling with me.
So the flight is halted, TSA is informed about the situation on the plane. Their official get on the plane and TAKE ME OFF THE PLANE !!
I am then boarded on the next flight... sometimes with a free upgrade to business class.

The question is, I was screened before getting on the plane and TSA gave me a nod, now if anyone has an issue travelling with me HE SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF THE PLANE. why me ??
The TSA should tell that guy ,,,, hey !! We checked him and he is all OK, if YOU don't wanna travel with him YOU GET OFF !!

[Markhor]

Ultimately the Patriot Act gives them the right to step all over the rights of the Muslims like this. However aren't black people and Hispanics also profiled ?

Anyway I read a while ago that one conservative nutcase in the US media was arguing that there should be Muslim-only lines at airports.

These are indeed silly times.

[Gotham Cronie]

Say I check-in at the airport and went thru all the bells and whistles of security check-up. The airport authorities and TSA are fully satisfied. I get on board and soon as the plane starts to fly, some Hillbilly gets a panic attack looking at my dress or my beard, and frantically presses the button and tells the air hostess that he feels threatened travelling with me. So the flight is halted, TSA is informed about the situation on the plane. Their official get on the plane and TAKE ME OFF THE PLANE !! I am then boarded on the next flight... sometimes with a free upgrade to business class.

This happened to you?

[chacha kashmiri]

Apparently this happened to a g4s worker before an olympic event he was meant to be doing security at.

It's never happened to me but then i haven't been on a plane in 16 years