Recently, I was traveling through the US and my trip required me to take three flights within the span of 10 days. As a dude with a turban and a sizeable beard, the not-so-random ārandomā selections for additional security screening is something Iāve come to expect at airports worldwide. There are the odd cases when Iāll pass by without the extra hassle, but for the majority of the time,Ā I know what to expect andĀ will letĀ the negativityĀ roll off my back. In most incidences, the security staff will at least be courteous about it, but after being stopped for the third time on my third flight (airports are already no fun to begin with), I began to grow impatient.
After passing through the preliminary screening, the security guard began calling for assistanceĀ without at leastĀ offering the common phrases of āwait right thereā or āstep to the sideā. In my frustration, I tried to ask him what was up:
āThereās an extra step.ā
āā¦ā¦thereās an extra step.ā
His inability to explain why I was being stopped shows that he was just following procedure. There was no tip-toeing around the fact, or pretending thatĀ this was somehow random in any way.Ā Prejudice is policy. Desmond Cole wrote a great article on the way the TorontoĀ policeās carding practices left him and many other black Canadians feeling dehumanized by being preferentially targeted just for existing. Carding, much like random airport checks,Ā assume guilt and criminalize people of colour. Itās part ofĀ a reality where the fears of the policy makers are weighed as more important than the dignity and self-respect of the people.