Richard Lai

Today was my first time landing in Los Angeles, and while the layout of the airport alone is pretty bizarre already, what I saw before getting past the passport checkpoint was even more saddening.

An officer — seemingly frustrated by a couple’s English illiteracy — came out of his booth and inspected the next man’s passport. After confirming that his first language is Arabic, the officer showed him a small piece of paper and asked him if he knew the handwritten word on it.

“TERRORIST” was the word.

The young, casually dressed traveler shook his head, so the officer frowned and mumbled, “Hmm, interesting,” before returning to the couple at his booth.

I don’t think the officer had ill intentions, but there’s obviously something very fucked up here. It’d be naïve of me to say that someday the word “terrorist” will no longer be brought up at security checkpoints due to certain racial backgrounds, but one can only hope.