Riad Z. Abdelkarim, M.D.
The expulsion last week of an Arab/Muslim-American Secret Service agent from an American Airlines flight out of Baltimore has once again raised questions about the use of ethnic, religious or racial profiling in security procedures around our country after the September 11 terrorist attacks. This incident — as well as another which caused Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to miss an international flight a few months ago — serve as extreme examples of what can happen when profiling practices are carried out to their logical conclusions.
Since Sept. 11, there have been numerous cases of airline profiling resulting in the refusal of service to passengers who are (or merely appear to be) of Arabic, South Asian or Muslim background. In one case, a San Antonio businessman was expelled from the plane because his presence made other passengers uncomfortable. In other cases, several people traveling together have been removed from flights and in some cases detained for lengthy questioning before being released. Over 160 incidents of airline profiling against American Muslims have been reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations since Sept. 11. The actual number of occurrences is believed to be much higher, and even non-Muslim South Asians and others have been targeted.
The case of the Secret Service agent is particularly appalling because of the undoubtedly stringent security procedures which must be passed just to become an agent, much less one of the elite few chosen to defend the president. But by apparently giving precedence to ethnicity/religion over established security protocols, the airline and pilot seemed to be sending the troubling message to our nation’s Arab and Muslim citizens that you are terrorist suspects until proven otherwise, the quality of your credentials notwithstanding.
American Airlines claims that the incident in Baltimore had nothing to do with race, religion or ethnicity. However, a close review of the circumstances leads to no other reasonable conclusion. The excuse offered by the airline and pilot for removing the Secret Service agent is simply not adequate. The alleged "inconsistency" of the agent’s paperwork is hard to imagine on a one page form that only asks the most basic questions (e.g. name, agency, destination, purpose, weapon description, etc.). Not only did the airline refuse to explain what the inconsistency might have been, but it also claimed that to do so would violate established security procedures. This explanation is — to put it politely — nonsense. This form is completed many times a day across the country at every airport by officers that serve in a wide variety of federal agencies (including U.S. Marshals, Customs, Secret Service, and FBI).
The question of the agent’s identity is equally suspicious. If there were any legitimate question about the agent’s identity that his commission book (not just a badge but a packet of documents) could not clarify, a simple phone call would have confirmed his identity. Instead, the agent was questioned for 75 minutes by the flight’s pilot, airline officials and airport police and barred from the flight even though he offered to have the Secret Service confirm his identify.
The passenger seated next to the agent has come forward and told the Council on American-Islamic Relations that the words and actions of the flight crew clearly amounted to "blatant profiling." According to the passenger, the flight attendant who searched the agent’s jacket after he was removed from the plane indicated she was not comfortable with his presence, particularly after she found a book on Middle Eastern history in his jacket.
One might even think that after 9/11, armed federal agents on an airplane would be welcomed with open arms — by pilots and passengers alike. However, the available evidence strongly suggests that the pilot in this case simply manufactured a security crisis — in the process humiliating and degrading the Secret Service agent — to justify his racist actions.
The agent eventually traveled to Texas to perform his duty — protecting the president. President Bush has stated that if he finds that the agent was the victim of profiling, he will be "madder than heck." Hopefully, this anger will be translated into the issuance of common-sense directives to airlines and pilots regarding the appropriate treatment of Arab-American and American Muslim passengers.
In the aftermath of the horrible terrorist attacks against our nation, all Americans are justifiably demanding more stringent security procedures to ensure the safety of passengers and flight crews on our airlines. This focus on safety, however, should not come at the cost of degrading and humiliating Americans of certain skin colors, ethnic backgrounds or faiths. When the odious net of profiling is being cast wide enough to ensnare a congressman — elected by the people and entrusted with defending our nation’s Constitution — and a Secret Service agent (likewise entrusted with the weighty responsibility of guarding the president’s life), then something is seriously wrong.
Riad Z. Abdelkarim, M.D., is Western Region Communications Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a grassroots American Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.
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