JFK terminal 5
The 2 ladies were Coffew and Raftul or something like that. In August, I went through and saw them and everything was normal. WHY was everything normal? Because I went through security with a hat on and took it off when asked to.
But what was different about my next trip I took a month ago. I was actually wearing my hijab or headscarf. It was a fun pretty scarf and didn’t scream TERRORIST. But to these dumb bitches it did.
So anyways right when we walked in they were suspicious. We were AMERICANS being randomly checked because I looked like a terrorist. They searched me and went through every single paper, undergarment, cards, scarves,EVERYTHING!!! In front of me.
The one lady kept asking me questions and tried to be friendly and I was giving her attitude and told her I would not want to talk to her because this is HARASSMENT! She said it’s not because they have been checking many people. I looked around me like she asked me to do and I saw nobody getting pulled aside or checked. Why? Because there were no known muslims going through security at that time.
The male officers thought these 2 ladies were stupid for what they did because we looked like normal people to them. But these 2 white racists had to check us and probably felt stupid they found nothing.
They asked me if I wanted to put my own things away and I said NO! Just the way you took my things out, you are going to put them back the way you found it. And when she walked away, I looked at her and said you only did this because I was wearing this on my head. And she walked away.
But it’s okay! I will see these ladies again without my hijab and ask them if they remember me! This will be interesting.
By: nella
That’s so sad… I’m so glad you still left with your head held high! Those people are so racist. I have a Muslim friend and she had to hide a brown paper bag of chips for fear people would run or call her a terrorist. It’s so depressing how ignorant many are and I hope this changes fast. Congrats to you on standing up for yourself!
This is so jumbled by irrational emotion, I’m not sure what to make of it. Exactly what type of headscarf does scream “terrorist?” What do “normal people” look like? (The 9-11 hijackers looked pretty “normal” to me.).
“I was randomly checked because I looked like a terrorist…” Well…which was it? Random or profile based? People are randomly selected for checks all the time in airport security; it is protocol.
“White racists…” How did they determine your race to exhibit such bias? Do you mean they singled you out because of the way you dressed or because of your genetic makeup? Why do you feel it important to note these two peoples’ melanin counts?
The male officers told you they thought their female colleagues were stupid and that you looked like normal people?
In my experience as a frequent flier, bag checks usually occur after X-ray, when the X-ray person sees (or can’t clearly see) something. The X-ray person doesn’t usually break concentration to look at passengers or know whose bag is whose. Was this not true in your case?
It sounds like you went in with an attitude. Had you allowed it to escalate further, they could have exercised their ability to call over a law enforcement officer to escort you out.