Racial Profiling in an Airport

I came across this image today and found it perfect for describing raced and classed bodies. This image depicts an American airport with two Muslim people at check-in. We can tell they are Muslim because the woman is wearing a hijab. They have been classed as being from the Middle East due to their Muslim religious views, and because they are seen as people from the Middle East, they have also been classed as security threats. They have their own check-in line which reiterates the fact that they have been separated from others in the airport and classed as a different type of people. We can see that they have been classed as security threats by looking at the people waiting for them in the Muslim check-in line. Since the September 11^th terrorist attack was organized by Muslims from the Middle East, people in American have started to associate all Muslims as terrorists and security threats. This racial profiling is even more likely in an airport because the 9/11 attacks used planes to take down the twin towers and pentagon buildings. There are people from the bomb squad, people with huge guns, and people hiding behind the check-in counter in this image to show their fear of the people they believe to be terrorists.

The two birds in the bottom left corner also add to the idea of the Muslim people being classed. One of them has a bubble that says “Untouchables?” This is suggesting that the Muslim people in the image are viewed as inferior to the other white bodies in the airport. This idea is also shown through the separation of the three different lines. There are lines for first class and economy class, but then Muslims have to have their own line. They are below the average person who flies economy class, suggesting that they are not only security threats as mentioned above, but also poor. The other bird responds and says “actually touchable and friskable.” This continues the idea that the two Muslims are terrorists. They need to be frisked by the authorities to remove the weapons they are planning to use on the plane.

The ideas portrayed in this image fit perfectly with the ideas that Stuart Hall presented in the clip we watched in class. He talked about how we naturally classify others by their physical characteristics, which is clearly happening in this image. Everyone automatically classifies the two Muslim people as terrorists simply because the woman is wearing a hijab. Stuart Hall also continued to say that the marking of similarities and differences transfers into a system of power. This is also displayed in this image with the separation of the Muslims for check-in and the idea that they are “untouchable” because they are inferior to other white travelers.