TSA, Here’s Your Chance to Make a New Friend

Posted on March 16, 2010
Filed Under Daily | 11 Comments

On Saturday, I flew back to L.A., and while waiting in the security line at Dulles International Airport that was flooded with college students headed to their spring break destinations talking about things like, “…then Riley used the blanket on the couch, and didn’t fold it, even after I told her to fold it, which just proves to me all over again that she so inconsiderate, and I’m SO done with the drama…” a hush fell over the crowd. As the absent Riley was momentarily dismissed from being scolded, everyone began studying the television monitors overhead. I looked up to find that the security threat levels had been raised to Orange, which is just one level below Red, which is the level that no one wants to see highlighted on the flat screen. Red causes havoc. It’s when people start to panic, and cry, and scream about how they’re going to die, and they never told enough people they loved them, and they swear to be better people, and maybe even go to church, and also, it can’t be their time because they NEVER MET OPRAH!

With an elevated threat level, I assumed that I’d be scooted to the side for a “random” security check. Because that only makes sense, right? When threat levels are elevated, it’s a matter of national security to frisk the Muslim girl traveling with a stuffed giraffe. I remember the first time TSA “randomly selected” my mom to get her bags checked at the airport. It was about 15 months after Sept. 11, and she just started covering her hair. We were repeatedly told it was a RANDOM(!) selection every step of the way. It was as if the TSA officials were trying extra hard not to let on that their new system of RANDOM(!) selection consisted of only pulling Muslims aside for additional security checks. It’s sort of like that whole concept of reverse guilt, where you cheat on your boyfriend, and then you accuse him of cheating everyday until he finally thinks he really must have cheated. It’s like at some point TSA expects me to be like, Thank you for the RANDOM(!) selection. I’m so sorry I put you through this. Also, I love you.

When my mom was pulled aside, and had all her bags opened, I looked around to see that we had been randomly joined by another Muslim. A man. And over the years, other RANDOM(!) passengers seem to include those people with a dash of extra melanin. At the time of my mom’s security check, I was livid beyond all sane limits of human emotion, but over the years, I’ve kind of become desensitized to it. Although what I’m about to say goes against everything I believe in my heart, I do think that at some point people start to accept what they can’t change. My point is, I would rather have my head patted down like a dog, then say what I’m really thinking, and end up in Guantanamo.

Without Internet access.

I know that it is TSA’s job to protect everyone that flies, and that includes me. And it’s probably only fair for me to mention that for every one TSA official that has treated me like crap, there are always about three that are extra courteous, and I appreciate that. But my issue with this whole RANDOM(!) selection is simple: I WISH THEY TOLD THE TRUTH. I would have so much more respect for this flawed system of racial profiling if someone just walked up to me and said, “Listen, this is not a random selection. We’re sorry it has to be you, but we’ve already been attacked by Muslims, and the entire world is scared that if there were to be another attack, it would be by someone who shares your faith, so we’ve pulled you aside to make sure you’re not that kind of Muslim.”

I would appreciate the truth. Do I agree with the logic? No. But I’m sure you understand that I have a slight bias against being fondled by a woman six times my size who doesn’t even have the courtesy to acknowledge that I’m flexing my muscles during the pat down. The least she could do is offer me a compliment.

Shortly after the Columbine shootings, my high school (more than 1,500 miles from the site of the attacks) banned students from wearing long trench coats to school. It didn’t seem fair to enforce such a prohibition at a public school, but the thought process behind the ban of a seemingly benign garment was that because the Columbine shooters were most often seen in their long trench coats, schools around the country feared that “the coat” was somehow directly related to a certain type of person with a certain ideology. When it comes to banning outerwear, or frisking Muslim airline passengers, I think it all boils down to one thing: When a society is confronted with irrational behavior (i.e. any sort of terror-inducing act) rather than trying to problem solve based on justice, logic, and reason, sometimes, we react irrationally, too. I’m not saying that schools, cities, and nations shouldn’t take precautionary measures to protect its people, but what I am saying is that these short-term “solutions,” when implemented over long periods of time, will only perpetuate a ripple of distrust that reaches far beyond the lines of metal detectors at high schools, and security lines at airports.

Comments

11 Responses to “TSA, Here’s Your Chance to Make a New Friend”

Organica on March 16th, 2010 4:49 pm

Thanks for sharing. I was travelling around the same time and the TSA didn’t even bother with the ‘Random’ excuse. I was simply redirected to where the lady was waiting for me with a wand. The lady happened to be Muslim and respectful bit I’ve come to accept the way things are.

My Indian friend behind me (no hijab) was allowed through with no troubles. She even passed through with a bottle of eye drops that no one bothered to detect.

My friend thanked me and said she lives travelling behind me because all the attention is on me.
Organica on March 16th, 2010 4:51 pm

Corrections: *but
*love
Jen on March 16th, 2010 5:59 pm

Next time you get frisked call me, I’ll tell them the classic college *mouse-trap* story, how you wouldn’t hurt a fly, our touching funeral for maximus the frog(may he rest in peace) and then they can check the creeper across the way.
humie on March 16th, 2010 7:14 pm

Its been a while since I’ve traveled. But since I’m going to Germany this summer to visit family I’ve been preparing myself for these “random” checks. I’m ocd and don’t want a lady so close to me that I can hear her breathing. eewwwwwww. But I’m sure my reaction to this will def. create a scene. I will just be like, ” seriously? look at me. I’m as tall as my suit case, how can I even hurt a fly?” And to make it worse I’ll have my arabic book with me. muahahahaha. All my white friends at college who go back home with their arabic book or study it on the place are also ” randomly” check. One time this security officer told my white friend that ” she looked so innocent that it was suspicious…”
nihad on March 16th, 2010 8:15 pm

all this while the terrorist is changing his looks.. the latest one in india was a white guy with a christian name who had managed to pass through all security and was openly flaunting himself just coz he dint look like a regular muslim. definitely proved that law enforcers were biased.
Urooba on March 17th, 2010 3:44 am

nice.

I retweeted this post!
Muslim Girl on March 17th, 2010 5:54 am

Wow that’s pretty crazy about banning trench coats (I love them!)

And I totally agree that humans behave irrationally when confronted with things like this. It’s a lot more offending when they say it’s “random” yet the people selected all have the same thing in common.
Brandi on March 17th, 2010 7:35 am

I definitely agree w/ wanting to truth. I only recently started wearing hijab, and alhamdulillah, no problems so far…but, I live in the good ol’ south, so I’m no stranger to racial profiling. Just the other day, I was pulled over for no reason whatsoever other than my siblings were in the car with me. They let us go eventually, but that was after extra scrutinizing our identification, and another 15 minutes of sitting there.

If he’d just say, look- you seem suspicious driving with a car full of AFRICAN AMERICANS in a low income area, I’d have been like ok, what do you wanna know…but when you have no reason to pull me over, and pretend like I’m supposed to be okay with you judging my skin color- nah. I wanted to tell him to jump in a lake…
Maftuna on March 17th, 2010 8:41 am

Hi Sabrina,
You gotta travel with kids! It’s the best, you get away with tons of stuff that’s not allowed even if you’re wearing a hijab, lol. I was traveling on an interenational flight from NY last year, and I was all worried about liquids, etc. But they had a family line and pretty much everything was okay. I was shocked!
And on the way back from Uzbekistan, too, they looked at me with 2 little girls, and I go to the customs guy “Do I have to stay on this line?” which was a line for women to go into a room to be frisked (no RANDOMness at all,lol) and he goes “You don’t have anything, do you?” haha, to which I said “Me? Um, no” with a surprised smile, so he let me just wait there till my husband came out of the “questioning room” to where all of the men were going.
So, yeah, travel with kids. However you have to weight the trouble and madness of traveling with kids to the uncomfort of being frisked… hmmm nevermind! I’ll take that over the kids!
Brandi on March 17th, 2010 11:03 am

Maftuna- a friend of mine said the same thing. She frequently flies from the Midwest to the South, and before she had her son, she was went through the “random” checks, but afterword, she is able to go through with no problem.
Hana on March 17th, 2010 1:19 pm

Awesome post, I couldn’t agree more, especially the whole irrationality bit at the end.
I dont know if you’ve heard of her, but there’s this spoken word artist and her stage name is Ms Latifah, and most of her videos are on YouTube, but theres this one video that adddreses this topic directly. Its called “My Alter Ego/My 9/11 Story”. You should check it out inshaAllah if you ever get the chance (: