Marjorie Desacada

Mazzant, Cynthia

137H English

2020, November 23

38,000 feet and terrorized

The word terrorism literally translates to the “practice of terrorizing”. Terrorists ideologies

from a general standpoint do not differ vastly as might think they would. They provide a general

set of beliefs and abide their behaviors and attitudes by it. People in general do this quite

frequently, such as waiting for marriage because they abide to living a devout life. Where’s the

difference? Terrorists will use their set of beliefs as justification for any action or behavior

performed whether that be harmful or good. Terrorism and travel, the parasitic relationship that

unfortunately can go hand in hand, and has in the past. Aircraft hijackings date back to the late

1920s, however those that took place within the beginning of the 21st century and during are down
in the history books. How has terrorism affected the way we travel today? Aircraft hijackings

within the 21st century has grown side by side with modern day technology. It has caused a domino

effect of rules and regulations on travelers worldwide, resulting in the public agency we know

today, Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

When you think of the word “terrorism” or “terrorist”, where does your mind go to? More

important question, when you think of those words, who does your mind go to? Ever since 9/11

and the rise of ISIS, terrorism has been associated with Muslims. “Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks,

it has been the official policy of the United States government to stop, interrogate and detain

individuals without criminal charge – often for long periods of time on the basis of their national

origin, ethnicity and religion” (ACLU 2004). Is racism the price that a nation needs to pay in order

to protect their citizens? Racially profiling is defined as the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for

suspecting someone of having committed an offense.

Millions of families and friends were affected by the devastating tragedy of 9/11. Put this

into perspective, I was born in 2002 with no family affected by the tragedy (thankfully). With no

family being affected and not even being born yet, does that mean I am not affected by the terrorist

attacks? The answer is no. Everyone in the world is affected by the terrorist attacks since the 21st

century. From the tourist traveling from a country 7,000 miles away, to a new-born baby’s first

flight. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was founded on November 19, 2001,

two months after 9/11.

No one wants to go through TSA. The endless lines, the wait, and the God-awful moment

where one forgets to dump their water bottle and is then sent to the back of the line for the second

time. But what about PreCheck? TSA PreCheck is a service one can apply for where “you can pass

through airport security lines without taking off your shoes, removing any electronics or liquids
from your bag, or taking off your belt or jacket” (Carl Unger, 2019). Though PreCheck allows one

to “breeze” through TSA lines, it does not mean that one is not subjected to be stopped and racially

profiled by the TSA agents. At Boston’s Logan International airport, “several officers estimated

that they accounted for as many as 80 percent of passengers searched during certain shifts”

(Michael S. Schmidt and Eric Lichtblau, 2012) were people of color.

The TSA is trained to detect and flag behaviors of others that may come off as dangerous

or fearful, this is called the “behavior detection” program. However according to the Psychology

of Terrorism, “there is no “terrorist personality”, nor is there any accurate profile – psychologically

or otherwise – of the terrorist” (Randy Borum, 2004). By default, TSA associates behavioral traits

of terrorism with race. Unfortunately, those who are most subject to questioning and false
screenings of these behavioral flags are those of color, mostly those who may resemble Muslim or

Saudi decent.

During and post 2001, the main image of terrorism or terrorist attacks were that of 9/11.

However as unprecedented times such as COVID-19 are upon us, we start to witness a shift in the

image of terrorism itself. The world renown pandemic of COVID-19 has endangered millions if

not billions of lives globally. Due to isolation and stay-at home boundaries, the formation and

gathering of terrorists to plot attacks, has changed. Though this may have dented or halted the

gathering of these extremists, some have mentioned that they ploy to use the virus into their

advantage and as a threat to society by spreading it. Any attempt to threaten one or a group of

people by spreading COVID-19 is now counted as a terrorist attack. Texas teen Lorraine

Maradiaga is facing a terrorism charge for threatening to spread the coronavirus. "If you want to

get the coronavirus and f-----' die, call me. I'll meet you up and I will shorten your life”, Maradiaga

says on her Snapchat story. "I'm here at Walmart about to infest every motherf------, because if I'm

going down, all you motherf------ are going down,".

 Life as we know it has changed. Our vision of a terrorist, has shifted from an Islamic

extremist, to an American teenage girl. Instead of an aircraft hijacking we are exposed to a threat

that is not visual, yet is still as dangerous if not even more. Along with this new threat of terrorism,

comes a new wave of racial profiling amongst travelers. In the beginning of June 2020, Trump and

the U.S D.O.T (United States Department of Transportation) placed a ban on Chinese passenger

carrier airlines to the States. The intentions of this ban, was to ultimately slow and contain the

spread of the virus within the nation. When does a nation’s safety precautions turn into bias racism?

Those of Chinese descent have received a tremendous amount of horrible backlash and

discriminatory comments throughout the pandemic especially towards the earlier portion.

Unfortunately the virus has become associated with China. However not only are the Chinese

receiving harsh racist comments, those of Eastern Asian descent or even Asian Americans are

receiving this intensified bias. Teacher Alice Tsui speaks on how the coronavirus has impacted her

image and her relationship with her students. She states that she had heard rumors that students

were spreading around school that she potentially has contracted the virus because she is of Asian

descent. “We must go beyond educating students about basic infectious disease prevention, such

as hand washing. We must also address the growing stereotyping, racism and discrimination that

pose long-term threats to our health, economy, and individual and collective psyches” (Alice Tsui).
 The misinformation that the coronavirus is an “Asian thing” or there is an automatic

association of “Asian-ness” with those who are carriers or infected is absurd. Though it originated

in China, the United States is the world’s leader in coronavirus cases as well as death. However,

there is not as big of an “American-ness” association with covid, it is primarily still a curated direct

result of those of Asian descent. Asian-Americans across the nation have started to share their

racist experiences and interactions during the pandemic. Overall these stories all recount similar

experiences, such as sly disgusted looks from people when in public, noticing an immediate

extreme form of distancing once in the same vicinity, and low murmurs and whispers underneath

masks while simultaneously making eye contact. These racist interactions have even escalated to

discriminatory comments such as “Go back to Wu-han”. What has caused this riff and stereotyping

amongst the United States and the world? 45TH U.S. president Donald Trump, is a strong contender

as to why there is such stereotyping. During multiple press conferences he has continued to blame

China for creating covid in a lab, even calling it the “China Virus”.
 With the president exploiting the virus as a China-made product, imagine the actions and

attitude of those under the U.S. government, such as the TSA. The TSA is now racially profiling

those of Asian descent, specifically those of Chinese descent. This is due to the president, as well

as the nation’s direct correlation of the virus to China. The TSA has shifted their racial profiling

to those of Asian descent due to the pandemic. It is important to note that the TSA does not

encourage nor tolerate racial profiling, as they are required and trained to treat all passengers and

travelers with both dignity and respect. However, this does not shift the mentality that may be

already established into some of the TSA workers about certain races. A worker may have an extra

sort of weary mentality of someone who is coming into the U.S. with an Eastern-Asian descent.

It is scary to think that anyone of any age is capable of being a terrorist. One does not need

to bear the title of an extremist in order to face a terrorist charge. A simple “joke” is all it takes

now a days. A joke is defined as a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter,

especially a story with a funny punchline. Telling those about having the virus and spreading it to

others is not a harmless joke, it is a threat to society and the overall safety of everyone.

We are living through both a covid-19 pandemic as well as a racial pandemic. Being fearful

of anything does not suffice as a sufficient enough excuse to segregate and discriminate others. To

terrorize someone means to inflict anxiety or to coerce with fear or violence. The stories mentioned

previously about Asian-Americans recounting their racist interactions with others during the

pandemic are an act of people terrorizing others. 9/11 is an act of terrorism that has impacted the

way we travel today. With the coronavirus being a high-level threat to the health and safety to

society, it can serve as a potential terrorist threat. Covid-19 has not only shifted the way we live

and how we live, it has shifted our mentality, even impacting the heaviest thoughts on both race

and terrorism.
 Work Cited

New York, NY : ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, 2004.

Sanctioned bias : racial profiling since 9/11.

Carl Unger Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an
extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near
home. Basically. (2020, April 08). Considering TSA PreCheck in 2020? Read this.
Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://www.smartertravel.com/what-you-need-to-
know-about-tsa-precheck/

Borum, R. (2004). Psychology of terrorism. Tampa: University of South Florida.

Griffith, J. (2020, April 07). Texas teen faces terrorism charge for threatening to spread
coronavirus, police say. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-teen-faces-terror-charge-threatening-
spread-coronavirus-police-say-n1177951

Tsui, A. (n.d.). How the Coronavirus Outbreak Is Changing My Asian American Experience.
Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://advice.theshineapp.com/articles/how-the-
coronavirus-outbreak-is-changing-my-asian-american-experience