Racial profiling is a growing problem for Arab Americans following the September 11 attacks . Particularly in airports , Arab Americans are often subject to heightened security screening , pre-boarding searches and interrogations , and are sometimes denied passage " based solely on the belief that ethnicity or national origin increases passengers ' flight risk . " Originally , passenger profiling was introduced in the 1960s to identify potential hijackers that fit the " profile " of a person who is " likely to be a terrorist . " However , this practice was discontinued in 1972 due to inefficiencies and was replaced by checkpoints and x-ray security . The Department Of Justice released a statement in 1997 claiming that automated passenger screenings would not have a " disparate impact on any group of passengers . " The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee ( ADC ) believes that " profiling , even under the best circumstances , provides an opportunity for the prejudices and stereotypes held by law enforcement and other officials to be expressed through discriminatory application of profiles . At worst , they are simply a recipe for bigoted behavior . " The November 1979 Iranian hostage crisis of the U.S. embassy in Tehran precipitated a wave of anti-Iranian sentiment in the United States , directed both against the new Islamic regime and Iranian nationals and immigrants . Even though such sentiments gradually declined after the release of the hostages at the start of 1981 , they sometimes flare up . In response , some Iranian immigrants to the U.S. have distanced themselves from their nationality and instead identify primarily on the basis of their ethnic or religious affiliations
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Racism in the United States