Guilty Until Proven Innocent
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Politics

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

When racial stereotyping goes over the line.

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Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Pixabay (Free-Photos)

Sidenote: This story and the characters are completely fictional.

“We have to get to the airport four hours early!” my mother repeated over and over. “Mom, I’m going to be ok, I already have a US passport, I’m going to go through security just fine” I responded. “Not with your name you’re not, let’s go!” she ordered. After already fighting about this for 10 minutes, I left for the airport at 5 am, for a flight at 9:30 am.

I finally made it through security at 9:00 am to board my flight to Vancouver at 9:15 am. Let me just say I arrived at the airport at 5:45 am; it took me that long to get through security. First off, when I tried to check in online, I was blocked from doing so. Then, as I tried to check in and give them my bags, I was told that I was blocked from flying in and out of the country. I asked them why, they responded: “Well, you have a common name”. However, the guy who checked in next to me with the name of “Nick Jones” was able to not only check in but also give the ticketing people his two bags. It was an ironic day.

To give a little background, I was visiting an aunt I had in Vancouver for winter break, and I was flying out of New York’s JFK Airport. My mom was worried about me traveling out of the country since I was Yemeni, but I already lived in the states for about 12 years. I moved here when I was 7. I honestly was looking forward to the trip so much that I didn’t even think about the new travel ban, limiting the number of people from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen entering the US. I really didn’t feel the reality of it all until I spent the first hour arguing with the ticketing people, then Homeland Security, trying to prove to them that I wasn’t a terrorist.

After I was finally able to check in, I went through security and Canadian customs, which was another hassle. Of course, I was chosen for the random drug test, I mean, when you look like a person like me, you get used to it, almost expect it; that was the harsh reality of it all. Nick Jones, however, glided through security within minutes. Even when he forgot to take his wallet out of his pocket, the TSA agents simply just let him through, probably thinking, “look at him, what harm is he going to do?” I saw all of this while being padded down after going through the whole body scanner the airports now have.

However, just as I saw the terminal shops of JFK, I was told to step aside at customs and was soon enough brought to a back room. Nick Jones got his Jamba Juice smoothie as I was escorted to the back.

They asked me the same questions over and over again, such as “Why are you leaving the US?” and “Are you going back to your home country through a connecting flight?”. It gave me such a headache because it seemed as if they refused to believe me since the color of my skin and my name automatically read “jihad” or “Islamic terrorist.” I’m literally a Christian. Would I have to recite the Apostles Creed for them to believe me? I mean, while people like Nick Jones are able to travel easier due to the color of their skin and their names, I was made to suffer, it simply wasn’t fair. The US court criminal justice motto “innocent until proven guilty” seemed to be the other way around here and at other airports. I would even say public places in fact. I mean, it simply isn’t right for me to already be seen as an enemy or be given the guilty verdict before I even walk into a room, or give my opinion. However, like my parents told me, “you just have to deal with it”.

After this wonderful interrogation, I was finally let free and made my way to the Jamba Juice shop. A couple of minutes later, I made my way to my gate and was about to sit down when Nick Jones ripped his shirt off, revealing wire, plastic black boxes and tape around his torso. All I can remember looking back was him screaming a sentence I couldn’t comprehend and him pushing a button. Everything went black after that. I woke up later in a hospital bed, with a clear tube in my wrist, and a pair of handcuffs was on the other.

Your honor, that is all I remember from that day. Please understand that I am innocent and that I was not an accomplice to Nick Jones.


JUDGE: Thank you for your words Ahmed, however, it is time. Has the grand jury reached a verdict?

HEAD JUROR: Guilty your honor.


Info on travel ban: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandratalty/2017/09/25/trumps-newest-order-bans-nearly-all-travel-from-seven-countries/#2eea8c8b6c69

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