I dont mind the pat downs when I have opted for them. Honestly I hate going thru those machines, which they claim are perfectly safe(insert eyeroll). If I get to the airport early enough, I ask for a personal screen, and I dont walk thru the machine. Unfortunately, most times I am running late, and I pass thru the machine.
If it’s the case that this was happening in a lot of places, it does seem likely that there was a directive–but what was its purpose? I can believe lots of bad things, but I find it hard to think that there was a directive instructing TSA to profile black women specifically. Somebody would have leaked it. Could it be that there was a directive to pat down “hair in which something could be hidden,” and TSA inspectors were selectively applying this to black women?
I just wanted to say that I have a friend (white skin, blonde hair) who gets her hair patted down every time she flies. She finally asked one time and was told it was because she wears her hair in a bun. I’m just saying that some people may be racially profiling, but sometimes, it might really just be the bun.
I also have a white friend who has had her hair—long, thick, and in a ponytail–patted down by TSA. She was very offended. I think she’d go ballistic if it happened every time she travelled. Not sure how womens’ hair pat downs make us all safer on planes.
I think if one or more of the groped passengers comes forward they can prosecute it as sexual assault.
I think there may be some technical problems mixed up with profiling. Here’s an interesting article about some other people who believe (with a lot of evidence) that they are being profiled in a similar way: http://www.sikhnn.com/headlines/1225/tsa-body-scanners-cannot-see-through-turbans
H and I and another couple had dinner reservations one night and guess who else was there? Yes, Obama and the first lady and some friends. It was his birthday. The small street was packed with armored humvees and the secret service wanded us as we came in. Just wanded us! No pat downs, no hair checks, no purse check, no metal detector, no emptying your pockets, no shoe removal, no x-ray machine!
TSA is security theater with a side of sexual assault and a heavy dose of racial and ethnic profiling.
I’m a very frequent flyer, and I can’t imagine caring all that much about it. Wand me, pat me, scan me whatever – just let me get through to my flight. If you want to get a cheap thrill by touching me for a whole 3 seconds or looking at the outline of my body in a scanner, have at it. It’s the infrequent flyers who get all caught up over this - the same people who can’t possibly move to the end of the conveyor belt to save their lives but have to stand there like idiots right at the dispensing end to grab their stuff. (Sorry, rant over)
My H has been thru the ringer with TSA a couple of times because he has a hip replacement. One time his pants were pulled down “too low” (we can laugh about it now)…and one time he was put in a “cell” of sort for several hours alone with a French-speaking person (H doesn’t speak any French and this person spoke no English). This was in 2006 that day that England had that 10 plane terrorist threat.
@Pizzagirl…I agree. Although not a frequent flier I just can’t seem to work up a huge sense of indignation. Funny thing, as a blond middle aged woman I somehow seem to be picked for the TSA ‘massage’ on a frequent basis. If frisking me makes your day…well then I guess I’ll take the good karma and bank it for later use. And if running your fingers through my hair is what makes you happy…well…I’ll just be thankful I have hair for you to massage. Frankly none of those TSA folks look all that happy to be doing what they are doing and IMHO would much rather sit and stare at the X-ray machine.
I went through Frankfurt Germany airport security the summer of the '72 Olympics. I was still a child…now THAT was a hands on search. Mom, sister and I stood in a little curtained off room and stripped to our slips…or what ever it was we had on as a base layer.
I do become indignant (although quietly and to myself) when I have to purchase a $5.00 bottle of water or a $4.00 mealy apple.
Most of us can withstand a bit of discomfort or inconvenience. It’s misconduct or incompetence that we can’t abide. Clutching someone’s private parts unnecessarily under color of law is misconduct. Giving inconsistent instructions is incompetence. Neither should be condoned.
I was on a streak for awhile of being pulled aside for a pat down. It ended when I traveled solo with the cutest puppy in the world. I had to take him out of the carry on ( purchased fro the airline ) and his cuteness made the TSA forget they had a job to do…patting this middle aged blonde ordinary looking woman
"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. "
Me. And patted down at foreign airports too. Really couldn’t care less. It’s a minute out of my life. I’m thinking about something else anyway. It’s not even memorable enough to remember any notable times!
Those machines can detect a Chapstick in my pocket. What is supposed to be hidden in that hair?
I happen to have a fairly stringent standard for the integrity of personal space, and the sovereignty of my person, so I could in no way take Pizzagirl’s sanguine attitude about being groped, and patted down every time I board an aircraft. It’s bad enough that those new imaging machines enable them to view virtually all that God gave you, but to have them deem that as not invasive enough…All I can say is, it’s a good thing I don’t fly very often.
Yes, it is. People who don’t fly often seem to aggravate themselves over things that frequent flyers take in stride. That’s why we like boarding ahead of you people and why we like our own security lines 
The article I posted above suggests that the machines actually aren’t that great with things like creases in cloth, so they may not be all that great with hair, either. When they wanted to check my left ankle, it was probably because my sock was bunched up or something.
I don’t like the inconvenience, and I don’t like to be searched, but I would like it a lot less if I thought I was being singled out repeatedly because of my race or religion.
Just saw a story on CNN about a TSA ‘groping scheme’. When a male officer saw an attractive female approaching the scanner, he’d signal the female agent running the scanner, who would then select ‘male’ as the female passenger entered the scanner instead of female. Of course then the scanner scans the female, but where her private parts are, they are seeing something else on the scanner and it reads as an error. So then the male TSA agent has a reason to basically grope the female passenger because she is obviously hiding something down there that he must find. Gross, gross, gross.
Obviously agents are getting fired over this, but it does make you wonder what other schemes they’re coming up with!
Just found this video link (obviously not what I saw on CNN):
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tsa-agents-fired-20150414-story.html
In all fairness, I have very thick curly hair and it’s been patted down by the TSA several times, in a bun and loose. And I am not black.
“Those machines can detect a Chapstick in my pocket. What is supposed to be hidden in that hair?”
Chapstick at least has a similar density as explosives.
I got patted down for forgetting there was a mini-tampon in my jeans pocket.