http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/2009815182636153569.html
About a year and a half ago, about 5 months after I was dismissed by the National Defense University (NESA Div.) for being Muslim, I went to Bangkok for a conference. I live in NJ so I was returning with a friend transiting to NC.
We noticed that all of the brown-skinned probably Indians or Pakistanis in front of us, as well as one Nepali that I heard speaking in Abu Dhabi (where we were previously transiting), had their passports taken by a special usher and were moved off the line.
I am a Muslim. I have a beard. I am white. I have a very Ashkenazi Jewish name.
When we got to that usher, I tried to hand him my passport and he rebuffed me, pointing ahead. I looked very confused and eventually he pushed me ahead.
I love New Jersey, in a lot of respects, and have mixed feelings of pity and hatred on the other hand. Nevertheless, despite that it will be populated by a majority of non-white people soon if not already, there is a lot of overt prejudice. I have noticed this particularly at the Newark Airport. Now, strictly speaking it is a very important and in many ways 'great' airport. However, I know, from personal experience, this account above to be true; and it saddens me.
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