Racial Profiling


Testimony from Amnesty International USA's hearings on Racial Profiling


Victims Accounts of Racial Profiling While Traveling Through Airports


THE CASES OF SANDRA AND OMAR RANA

Since September 11, 2001 there has been a widely reported increase in racial profiling at airports, particularly as it applies to people who appear to be Muslim or of South Asian or Middle-Eastern descent.29 In Tulsa, Dr. Sandra Rana, a member of the Tulsa Police Community Race Relations Committee told us about her family's experience at the airport.

Dr. Rana described how airport officials targeted her family, pulling her eight-year-old son from the line and taking apart the Boy Scout pinewood derby car he had built. Her son, Omar, is now routinely targeted at airports. Dr. Rana explained,

" Imagine how I felt when my eight-year-old son was pulled from the line because of his name and I could not go with him. Imagine how he felt when they started to take apart his Boy Scout pinewood derby car in the Boy Scout box... It is now routine for my son, for Omar Rana, to get extra security checks at the airport. He knows it's going to happen, and he expects it... But how do I tell my ... son that it's okay? He is now ten. He is learning about civil liberties and civil rights.What meaning do they have for him...? "
Upon advice from law enforcement officials,Dr.Rana has stopped wearing her hijab to the airport (hijab is the traditional Muslim head covering for women),
"It's not just the scarf. I tell my kids, don't speak Urdu. It's the Pakistani language. Don't speak it when you're on the plane. Don't take the Quran.30 We've been advised by officials, do not carry any book that's in Arabic... Don't do anything that will cause attention to yourself."
THE CASE OF MAHMOUD EL ROSOUL

Indeed, even long-time airport employees have been targeted while traveling on family vacations. Consider the testimony of Mahmoud El Rosoul, a Muslim American citizen, from the hearings in Dallas.

Mr. El Rosoul has been working as an engineer for a major airline company for 22 years. In March 2003, on their way back from a vacation in Hawaii, Mr. El Rosoul and his family were stopped at the checkpoint because their tickets were marked by American Airlines. They were pulled out of line and every one of them, including his nine-year-old, eightyear- old and four-year-old children, were thoroughly searched. The lengthy search caused them to miss their flight, and they were forced to spend the night in the airport at Los Angeles. Mr. El Rosoul is disheartened especially because he has spent 22 years building airplane engines for the airline that treated him so poorly. He says,

" They think September 11 is our fault.We have to take responsibility for it ...They think America is going to be a better country without us."
THE CASE OF HERB BOYD

Some people report being profiled because of multiple personal characteristics. At the hearings in New York City we heard from Mr. Herb Boyd, a reporter with Amsterdam News, and an African-American Muslim, whose testimony illustrates how the intersectionality of race and religious or ethnic appearance can often make individuals "doubly suspicious":

Mr. Boyd often wears Islamic garments. He describes his experience at airports after the attacks of September 11, 2001,

" During a flight to Detroit in December 2001, I noticed that my ticket had a red dot on it. I didn't pay any attention to that until I discovered I was standing with several others, all of them identifiably Arabs or [of ] Arab descent.We were all virtually stripped before entering the plane. Two of [them] ... told me they had endured such searches every flight they took.What I was to learn in successive flights is that a black man carrying a Kufi or Arabic garments was doubly suspicious. So any perverse satisfaction I may have momentarily derived from not being the main target of racial profiling in [post-September 11, 2001] America gradually vanished."
THE CASE OF GERRI McCLELLAND

However, it is not just Arabs, Muslims, and people of Middle-Eastern descent or appearance who are profiled and scrutinized at airports since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Other minority groups complain about being subjected to racial profiling in airports. In Tulsa, we heard from Gerri McClelland, a Native American, about her experience at an airport.

Ms. McClelland, a member of the Seneca tribe, was carrying ceremonial turtle shells with her as she traveled to the Seneca reservation in Canada. Security officials insisted that she either take apart her ceremonial objects or check them into baggage where they could be damaged. After a long discussion, the officials finally allowed Ms. McClelland to board. However, being upset, tired, and worried that the same problem may occur on the connecting or return flight, Ms. McClelland chose to forgo the trip and returned home. She describes her encounter,

" They pulled me aside ...wanted to know what was in my bag.... I said, you can see it. It was turtle shells with rocks in them, laced to a piece of leather.... These are ceremonial pieces that we use.... And then I got harassed. They thought that I was going to do something ...they were going to bust my turtles to find out what was inside of them. Those are ceremonial things that you wear ...I even shook the turtles...to show them that they were rocks."