Guleed Allen: An Uncomfortable Experience

Guleed Allen shares about a disturbing experience he had while getting candy with his friends.

It started as just another day in my freshman year of high school. It was early October, with the kind of cold that bites at your fingers but doesn’t quite make you shiver. Like always, I was headed to the grocery store with my two friends after school, ready to buy some candy. Nothing new.

We entered the store.The fluorescent lights casted a dull glow with the familiar hum of checkout scanners filling the air. But this time felt different. There was a security guard I had never seen before, and as soon as we stepped inside, I felt his eyes on me. Sharp and unbreaking.

As we looked through the candy aisle, I could feel the weight of his gaze. I felt a little confused, but I pushed it aside. Maybe I was just imagining it. I mean, I was with my friends, so what was there to worry about?

We grabbed our candy, went to the register, and paid. As we headed for the exit, I exhaled, ready to step back into the cold air. But just as I was about to leave, a voice stopped me. “Hey, let me see your receipt.”

I froze for a second. My friends stopped as well, looking confused. I blinked, then reached into my bag and handed over the small slip of paper.The guard took the receipt, scanned it quickly, then nodded and stepped aside. I took the receipt back, gripping it a little tighter than before. I had just paid. Just like my friends. So why me?

I laughed it off at first. My friends laughed, too, saying it was “probably nothing.” But that nothing sat in my stomach all the way home. My friends continued to talk like nothing happened, but I could barely hear them. I was the only African American in my friend group.

While it was my first time experiencing racial profiling, I know that this is something many African Americans have gone through as well. It made me feel like having to always be on guard and that should never be the case.

With a Perspective, I’m Guleed Allen.

Guleed Allen is a high school junior who enjoys hiking and playing basketball for fun. He attends a public charter school in the Bay Area.