TSA To Keep Their Hands Out of Black Women’s Hair
We’ve all been to at least one airport in our lives. We’ve see the TSA agents check our IDs, passports, suitcases, purses, bodies for malicious items or weapons before boarding.
And I’m sure many of us heard stories about overzealous TSA agents “searching” for pressure cooker, homemade bombs in their manes of black women trying to board a plane.
The Grio recently reported that two women, Dr. Malaika Singleton and Novella Coleman, announced that the TSA will begin anti-discrimination tactics and will cease searches through women’s natural hair.
When asked why they searched her hair in the first place, Coleman said they needed to search her extensions…even though she does not wear extensions. So they filed separate complaints with the American Civil Liberties Union about the discriminatory acts.
So, her frustration was clearly to be expected. Like, it’s soooo hard for some people to realize that some black women don’t wear extensions!
Thankfully, the TSA has complied with handling (or mishandling) of black women’s hair. If you want to read the entire dialogue between the ladies, the American Civil Liberties Union and the TSA, go here.
In the letter it states that:
“MSP (Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport) and LAX will both provide retraining to their respective TSA workforce to stress TSA’s commitment to race neutrality in its security screening activities with special emphasis on hair patdowns of AfricanAmerican female travelers.”
While this is a small victory for women with natural hair, it would be nice to see all airport TSA employees to do the same.
