Week 7 & 8 Reading Response #3

The United States federal government would create such a poster for security reasons. It seems to have been created in a time when proper identification of Muslims was important. It was probably created for airport security after the September eleventh attack on our country. There purpose is to have a training aid for the security officers. They list the names of the different types of coverings and show examples. They also describe the necessary procedures for conducting a search. It would be a very valuable training aid for airport security, particularly in areas where Muslims are not a common sight. They describe how to conduct a search on a Muslim, and to do it in a way which would not offend or humiliate them in their culture. As far as the specific roles that the visual elements play are concerned, they are showing us that not all Muslims are turban wearing terrorists. I don’t think verbal descriptions would be as effective as visual because I don’t see any way to describe these head coverings, nor the people not being terrorists without some sort of visual aid. Concerning the descriptions of Muslim head coverings being provided by the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee contributing to this posters credibility, until now I have never heard of such an organization and I surely hope my tax dollars are not funding it. As far as its ethos, or character contributing to its credibility, again I have never heard of the committee before so I know nothing of its character.