It is clear in the stories here that the women interviewed were not accustomed to these racial encounters before they wore the hijab. The men and women I interviewed were professionals who enjoyed a middle-to-upper-class lifestyle, giving them access to predominantly white spaces. While they may have never felt completely white due to the racialization of their ethnicity, their encounters in public spaces were not hostile in the ways they have been since September 11th. Since 9/11, a Muslim identity has triggered these racial experiences. Policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act have produced the current surveillance society that has made Muslim bodies susceptible to constant monitoring.

DEFINE: Clarifies how racial encounters are triggered by religious markers and national policy, not just ethnicity. XREF: Connects to the PATRIOT Act's surveillance regime and scholarship on post-9/11 Islamophobia and racialization of religion.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 149