LaGuardia Reflection

 Ruth Owusu

 Dr. Juniper Ellis

 Postcolonial Literature 

 LaGuardia Reflection 

    Questioning at the airport is such a real and scary experience for many Africans, undocumented citizens, and "foreigners" who arrive in America. As much as America promotes itself as hospitable, the land of the free, etc.. its interactions and implementations are quite the opposite. Okorafor presents those truths in the contrast, yet similar lives of Future and the 3 Sudanese men who came abroad. 

    Although Future is a Nigerian American, a naturalized citizen, she was still interrogated by the security at the airport. Her physical appearance may have played a huge part in that but also, she lived in Nigeria for an extended period of time. Because of those factors, it gave them an excuse to inappropriately inspect her. Then the security went further to probe her about her pregnancy and the father of the child. The whole interaction was so layered and complex, Okorafor does a great service in exposing the behind-the-scenes of the integration process for even those like Future who stayed abroad for just 3 years. When reading it, it seemed quite bizarre and out of the extreme; because she has every right to travel being that she is an American. However, that is not the case especially when the airport tries to find any fault against you. Okorafor seems to show that if this can happen for a Nigerian woman born in America, how much more those who are not; which was the case for the 3 Sudanese men. 

    Their reasoning for coming to America was to get an education. They checked all the boxes of being  "suitable" for American standards. They had good English and followed the Leaver's guide; yet, they were still detained at the airport. Fear and confusion is what overwhelmed them, and they became fed up they wanted to leave. If they didn't have Future's grandmother, they may not have been able to reside in America. This goes to show that having a support system is really important in navigating such encounters. 

    Future grandmother is an interesting character worth examining in that she is a lawyer and defends cases for Africans and "aliens." Not only does she defend them, she goes on to house them as tenants in her apartment complex. Her heart is worth commending in that she went far and beyond to get the 3 Sudanese men out of the airport. As well as helped Citizen get a passport and a visa overnight so that he could see Future and the baby. A point she made that got me thinking is the interaction between the security and herself. The security officer says, "Passports, please... Ma'am your license, please." To which the grandma responds, "Oh really? Why not their Driver's License? Why assume they're not Americans" (Okorafor, Chapter 2). The security officer, with his preconceived biases, makes the assumption that the men cannot possibly live in America already to carry a license, so they must be "illegal."  And for the grandma, well she is driving so she must be legal. Of course, there is more to explore here, but this interaction definitely has me thinking about what some Americans think about "aliens" or "foreigners." 

    The message I am picking up from these tail of events is Okorafor exposing the weird frenzy that Americans get into when a traveler comes to America from abroad to stay for a long period of time. I don't fully understand it because it's quite absurd and goofy. In this futuristic novel, it's not fully explained, but what is shown is the support system that is necessary to mediate such encounters. 

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