Do Muslim Americans Support Racial Profiling at Airports?

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Islamophobia Studies Journal

Volume 5, Issue 1

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Do Muslim Americans Support Racial Profiling at Airports?

research-article

Author(s): Nader Abualnaja , Gautam Nayer

Publication date (Print): 1 October 2019

Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: racial profiling, airline, terrorism, 9/11, Muslim

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Abstract

Muslim Americans have been treated with prejudice, discrimination and bias in multiple incidents after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (9/11). While all of the 9/11 terrorists were identified as Muslims, collateral damage in the aftermath resulted in innocent and wholly blameless Muslim Americans being swept up in the prejudicial discriminatory profiling incidents at airports. Muslim Americans have been collectively accused of the 9/11 attacks that were orchestrated by individuals who were fanatical Muslims; very few of whom would be considered in that category. Since 9/11, as the nation has mourned the loss of so many Americans in the attack, they have been joined by the thoughts and prayers from the vast majority of Muslim Americans who have suffered equally, if not more so. There were Muslims who lost their lives in the attack on the Twin Towers, yet the Muslim American community has been collectively blamed as a co-conspirator for the terrorist attack. Our research examines the city of Houston's Muslim American community's opinions regarding the support for racial profiling at airports after 9/11. Data were gathered through surveys administered at local mosques in the city. Surprisingly, there was robust support for racial profiling at airports by most Muslim Americans we surveyed.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Nader Abualnaja

Gautam Nayer

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50018795

Journal ID (jcode): islastudj

Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 2325-8381

ISSN: 2325-839X

Publication date (Print): 1 October 2019

Volume: 5

Issue: 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/islastudj.5.issue-1 )

Pages: 11-25

Affiliations

Texas Southern University

Article

Publisher ID: islastudj.5.1.0011

DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.5.1.0011

SO-VID: 66221e1d-8346-4f37-b3f1-10ef405dbde3

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Custom metadata

lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences

Keywords: airline,Muslim,9/11,terrorism,racial profiling

REFERENCES

Associated Press. 2019. “2 Muslim Men Say American Airlines Canceled Flight after Crew ‘Didn't Feel Comfortable’.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/09/20/two-muslim-men-texas-say-american-airlines-racially-profiled-them/2395830001/
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Del Carmen, A. 2008. Racial Profiling in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
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Ellmann, S. J. 2002. “Racial Profiling and Terrorism.” New York Law School Law Review 46: 675.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Associated Press. 2019. “2 Muslim Men Say American Airlines Canceled Flight after Crew ‘Didn't Feel Comfortable’.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/09/20/two-muslim-men-texas-say-american-airlines-racially-profiled-them/2395830001/

[2] Becker, H. S. 1963. Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press.

[3] Byng, M. D. 2008. “Complex Inequalities: The Case of Muslim Americans after 9/11.” American Behavioral Scientist 51, no. 5: 659-74.

[4] Cainkar, L. 2002. “No Longer Invisible: Arab and Muslim Exclusion after September 11.” Middle East Report 224: 22-29.

[5] CNN. 2001. “Pilot Barred Arab-American Secret Service Agent.” CNN. December 28. http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/12/27/rec.agent.airline/index.html

[6] Deflem, M. 2004. “Social Control and the Policing of Terrorism: Foundations for a Sociology of Counterterrorism.” The American Sociologist 35, no. 2: 75-92.

[7] Del Carmen, A. 2008. Racial Profiling in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

[8] Elliot, A. 2006. “After 9/11 Arab-Americans Fear Police Acts, Study Finds.” New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/us/12arabs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[9] Ellmann, S. J. 2002. “Racial Profiling and Terrorism.” New York Law School Law Review 46: 675.

[10] Esposito, J. L. 2002. What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam, vol. 2. New York: Oxford University Press.

[11] Fenello, M. J. 1971. Technical Prevention of Air Piracy. New York: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

[12] Flanagan, T. J., and M. S. Vaughn. 1996. “Public Opinion about Police Abuse of Force.” In W. A. Geller & H. Toch (eds.), Police Violence: Understanding and Controlling Police Abuse of Force (pp. 113-128). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

[13] Gabbidon, S. L., and H. T. Greene. 2009. Race and Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[14] Gallup, A., and F. Newport. 2010. The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2009. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

[15] Glover, K. S. 2009. Racial Profiling: Research, Racism, and Resistance. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

[16] Gross, S. R., and D. Livingston. 2002. “Racial Profiling under Attack.” Columbia Law Review 105, no. 2: 1413-38.

[17] Haddad, Y. Y. 1991. American Foreign Policy in the Middle East and its Impact on the Identity of Arab Muslims in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press.

[18] Haddad, Y. Y. 2007. “The Post-9/11 Hijab as Icon.” Sociology of Religion 68, no. 3: 253-67.

[19] Harris, D. 2002a. “Racial Profiling Does Not Reduce Terrorism.” In Lauri S. Friedman (ed.), Are Efforts to Reduce Terrorism Successful? (pp.70-77). New York: Thomson Gale.

[20] Harris, D. A. 2002b. “Flying while Arab: Lessons from the Racial Profiling Controversy.” Civil Rights Journal 6, no. 1: 8-13.

[21] Higgins, G. E., S. L. Gabbidon and G. F. Vito. 2010. “Exploring the Influence of Race Relations and Public Safety Concerns on Public Support for Racial Profiling during Traffic Stops.” International Journal of Police Science and Management 12: 12-22.

[22] Johnson, D., D. Brazier, K. Forrest, C. Ketelhut, D. Mason and M. Mitchell. 2011. “Attitudes toward the Use of Racial/Ethnic Profiling to Prevent Crime and Terrorism.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 22, no. 4: 422-47.

[23] Kleiner, Y. S. 2010. “Racial Profiling in the Name of National Security: Protecting Minority Travelers' Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism.” Boston College Third World Law Journal 30, no. 1: 103-44.

[24] Lemert, E. M. 1951. Social Pathology: A Systematic Approach to the Theory of Sociopathic Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.

[25] Lilly, R. J., F. T. Cullen and R. A. Ball. 2001. Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[26] Lund, N. 2002. “The Conservative Case against Racial Profiling in the War on Terrorism.” Albany Law Review 66: 329.

[27] Mishra, D. 2001. American Backlash: Terrorists Bring War Home in More Ways than One. Washington, DC: South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow.

[28] Moore, K. 2002. “A Part of US or a Part from US?: Post-September 11 Attitudes toward Muslims and Civil Liberties.” Middle East Report 220: 32-35.

[29] Onwudiwe, I. 2005. “Defining Terrorism, Racial Profiling and the Demonisation of Arabs and Muslims in the USA.” Safer Communities 4, no. 2: 4-11.

[30] Pampel, F. C. 2004. Racial Profiling. New York: Facts On File.

[31] Panagopoulos, C. 2006. “The Polls-Trends Arab and Muslim Americans and Islam in the Aftermath of 9/11.” Public Opinion Quarterly 70, no. 4: 608-24.

[32] Parrillo, V. N. 2011. Strangers to These Shores: Census Update. New York: Pearson.

[33] Pew Research Forum. 2007. “Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream.”

[34] Pitt, C. 2011. “US Patriot Act and Racial Profiling: Are There Consequences of Discrimination?” Michigan Sociological Review 25: 53-69.

[35] Reitzel, J. D., S. K. Rice and A. R. Piquero. 2004. “Lines and Shadows: Perceptions of Racial Profiling and the Hispanic Experience.” Journal of Criminal Justice 32: 607-16.

[36] Ryberg, J. 2011. “Racial Profiling and Criminal Justice.” The Journal of Ethics 15, no. 1-2: 79-88.

[37] Saad, L. 2006. “The Gallup Poll: Anti-Muslim Sentiments Fairly Commonplace.” http://www.gallup.com/poll/24073/AntiMuslim-Sentiments-FairlyCommonplace.aspx

[38] Sandomir, D. C. 2009. Preventing Terrorism in the Long Term: The Disutility of Racial Profiling in Preventing Crime and the Counterproductive Nature of Ethnic and Religious Profiling in Counterterrorism Policing. Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School.

[39] Schildkraut, D. J. 2009. “The Dynamics of Public Opinion on Ethnic Profiling after 9/11.” American Behavioral Scientist 53: 61-79.

[40] Siggins, P. 2002. “Racial Profiling in an Age of Terrorism.” http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/usanfrajls5&div=9&g_sent=1&collection=journals#69

[41] Szyliowicz, J. S. 2004. “Aviation Security: Promise or Reality?” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 27: 47-63.

[42] Tannenbaum, F. 1939. Crime and the Community. New York: Columbia University Press.

[43] Trento, S. B., and J. J. Trento. 2006. Unsafe at any Altitude: Failed Terrorism Investigations, Scapegoating 9/11, and the Shocking Truth about Aviation Security Today. Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press.

[44] Vold, G. B. 1958. Theoretical Criminology. New York: Oxford University Press.

[45] Vold, G. B., T. J. Bernard and J. B. Snipes. 2002. Theoretical Criminology. New York: Oxford University Press.

[46] Weitzer, R. 2000. “Racialized Policing: Residents' Perceptions in Three Neighborhoods.” Law and Society Review 34, no. 1: 129-55.

[47] Weitzer, R., and S. A. Tuch. 2002. “Perceptions of Racial Profiling: Race, Class, and Personal Experience.” Criminology 40: 435-56.

[48] Weitzer, R., and S. A. Tuch. 2004. Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform. New York: Cambridge University Press.

[49] Williams, F. P., and M. D. McShane. 2004. Criminological Theory. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education.