We’ve all been to the airport. Take off our shoes. Remove belts. All electronics removed. That funky machine that makes you put your arms in the air. Now the TSA is moving closer to requiring that books and magazines be taken out of bags too.

The TSA of course would have you blame carriers. The government would have you blame terrorists, but the question I still have is, “Really?”. Is this really going to make airports in America that much safer by forcing people to remove their books and magazines from their bags? I don’t have the answer. But we can’t deny the possibility and likelihood of discrimination. Someone with brown skin reading a book in Arabic just so happens to get screened more thoroughly. An Hispanic looking person with a book about immigration in America also undergoes additional screening.

These things already happen today. I believe this new policy only makes these instances more likely and prevalent. I always take books when flying. From now on I’ll just put them in my checked bag.