JetBlue Passenger Forced to Cover Arabic T-Shirt Awarded

Just days after a Muslim family was thrown off an AirTran plane, the ACLU announces a victory against racial profiling on airplanes.

An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday.

Raed Jarrar received the pay out on Friday from two US Transportation Security Authority officials and from JetBlue Airways following the August 2006 incident at New York's JFK Airport, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced.

"The outcome of this case is a victory for free speech and a blow to the discriminatory practice of racial profiling," said Aden Fine, a lawyer with ACLU.[AFP]

Racial justice advocates have to continue to fight against discrimination and harassment of Muslims especially on planes.