Lje, at least the IRS only asks you to empty your pockets. The TSA orders you to strip naked. (I once was ordered to remove my button-front tunic that looked like a coat to one of the TSA guys. You want to see my bra? The guy withdrew his orders.)
This must have been going on in areas where there aren’t many Black people working in TSA or maybe some lily white area? What the heck. For many years now, I have lived in an area with a high black population. I have never seen black women accosted in this rude fashion.
This must have been going on regionally and not nationwide.
That said, I have often noticed that TSA rules vary from airport to airport. I won’t mention the ones that are strangely lax (don’t want to list those! lol), but there are some that are super strict about every little thing!
@mom2collegekids I wish that were true, but sadly no. My hair has been in examined in the midwest, east coast, south and southeast.
I definitely believe agents were given a directive to profile. Im just glad this has been escalated and hopefully will end. I didnt mind the random searches, but it was random, it was specifically about the hair, our hair!
There is a history of severe mistreatment of Black women at airports in the U.S. During the Clinton administration Black women, U.S. citizens mind you, were regularly stopped for questioning on the suspicion of being drug couriers. According to the ‘60 Minutes’ report, airport officials usually came up empty…but the practice continued. Bad press probably diminished the practice. Sounds like it’s returned under the TSA, an agency that feels it needs to engage in such demonstrations to justify its continued existence.
So they were pawing through all black women’s hair-- not just the women who were randomly selected for more scrutiny-- but not big hair on other women?
@“Cardinal Fang” yes, I was not randomly selected. I would go thru the screening machine, and when I stepped out they would say, " we need to pat your hair". Now this never happens when I wear my hair straight, but always when my hair is in its natural state or I had braids, and they were in a bun.
What could they possibly think you had hiding in your hair that wouldn’t show up on the x-ray? Hair isn’t dense like bones or lead or metal, the machine would see right through it.
@greenwitch yes if you read my first post that was my point! I know those giant screening machines will detect things. I purposely didnt use the ponytail holders with the metal bands to secure my braids because I thought they may show up. Yet, I still got stopped.
Yes, but there must be some official guideline somewhere, some document that tells what someone could hide in their hair that somehow wouldn’t show up on the X-ray machine. Plastique? Drugs?
For anything they believe could be hidden in my hair, couldn’t I put a small packet of it in my bra? Or just in my damned pocket? If it doesn’t show up in hair it wouldn’t show up in either of those places.
Precisely, Greenwitch. There are two most plausible explanations: either the machines do not work as expected and cannot be trusted, or the TSA is racially profiling just because they think they can get away with it. Somehow, after seeing how these scanners can microwave through my clothes to pick up a bandaid in my pocket, I am not convinced the machines would not be able to pick up a plastic object hidden in hair. Hmmmm…
Well like I said, apparently there were countless Black women being profile, and Im glad it has stopped. If non-Black women were being stopped with big hair, or buns this wouldnt be a problem. I thought it was just me, as I said. In fact, last summer when it happened several times, I ranted on my fb page. Sure enough, several friends chimed in that the same thing happened to them too. Only when our hair is in an “ethnic” style.
@partyof5 <<<@mom2collegekids I wish that were true, but sadly no. My hair has been in examined in the midwest, east coast, south and southeast.
I definitely believe agents were given a directive to profile. Im just glad this has been escalated and hopefully will end. I didnt mind the random searches, but it was random, it was specifically about the hair, our hair!<<<
Were the TSA agents always non-Black ?? I can’t imagine Black TSA agents wouldn’t have caused a fuss about this a long time ago.
Honestly I cant say. I dont remember the race of the agents. I think Black agents knew the silliness of this policy but were just following policy. Heck the non black agents may have thought this was silly as well, who knows. To me it was a policy of assuming that we were smuggling something in our afros/braided buns, as opposed to non blacks having buns, that were not being checked.
But, how many of you have had your breasts patted down? In my case, it was the area between my breasts and the area around them. It was really odd how they did the area between my breasts. She extended and folded her hands, like she was praying, and just the outside of her pinky fingers and palms made contact. I just stood there, and it didn’t realize what had happened until I walked away. I believe I was wearing an underwire bra at the time. Good thing I’m not easily offended.