INCE THE TRAGEDY of Sept. 11, incidents abound involving airline passengers who have been singled out, questioned, searched and, in some instances, denied entry to airline flights for reasons allegedly associated with race alone. In the most publicized case to date, an Arab-American secret service agent working for President Bush was denied a seat onboard an American Airlines flight. Although the parties dispute exactly what happened, race or racial stereotyping purportedly played a part in the airline employees’ refusal to allow the agent to re-board.
In San Francisco, Ahsan Baig, a Pakistani businessman, was denied entry to United Flight 288 because the pilot did not like the way he appeared to be furtively talking to other passengers. Another incident in New Jersey involved a New York Family Court judge, Tejinder Singh Kahlon, a Sikh who refused to remove his turban in public for airport officials. Most recently, in probably the most egregious case of racial profiling, a 22-year-old Pakistani-American woman was strip-searched at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, after allegedly being singled out as an Arab for wearing a “hijab,” the traditional head covering for Muslim women.
