This public display of security segregates passengers into two groups: those who are a potential threat, and those who are worthy of protection from this threat. The fact that nearly all the names called out for additional security were Muslim names supports the claim that the Selectee and No-Fly lists target Muslims. In this instance, American Airlines performed security in front of some passengers by racially profiling its Muslim clientele. It is no surprise, then, that passengers feel justified in reporting Muslims as suspicious to flight attendants on airplanes; they take their cues from the state. When the state participates in racially profiling passengers based on a religious identity in a public fashion, citizens feel justified in reporting their fellow passengers as suspicious for doing things like speaking Arabic or wearing the hijab when flying.

XREF: Connects to surveillance-state literature on how state practices legitimize public behavior (e.g., Foucault, Goffman).

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 197