We wrote about a similar situation on the site a couple months ago. Looks like it’s more common than we previously thought.
From AJC.com:
The 53-year-old Dallas woman told KXAS-TV station in Texas that she was halfway to her gate to catch an American Airlines flight to Dallas when she started hearing shouts.
“”˜Hey you! Hey you! Ma’am! Ma’am! Stop! Stop! The lady with the hair! You!” Brantley told the station.
When the Transportation Security Administration agent caught up with Brantley, she was told she would miss her flight if she didn’t allow her hair to be searched.
Brantley said she was in tears as the agent started “digging” through her hair to check for weapons. She asked the agent to “just find what you’re looking for and please hurry and leave. It was just humiliating,” Brantley told the station. “I was so embarrassed.”
In a statement to the Dallas station, the TSA said Brantley left the checkpoint area before screening was completed and she refused a private screening that was offered.
“Additional screening may be required for clothing, headwear or hair where prohibited items could be hidden,” the statement said.
Brantley, who told the station she hasn’t cut her hair since age 12, said her hair had never been searched before.
BMWK family, what do you think?
Lamar says
I’m curious to know what the ladies in the room would think if they were stopped for a hair search?
Ayanna says
You don’t touch a black woman’s hair! lol We work to hard to get it just right.
Lamar says
My daughter saw someone say that on TV one time and tried to use it on me last year when were waiting on her school bus and I was messing around with her braids. I really messed with it then LOL.
Shautel M. Walker says
I want to know if white women who have big bouffants have their hair searched? If not then yep, i’m going to say this is probably a matter of race..But I’m not having my hair searched or that of my children’s..So I guess I’ll stay away from airports until they get it right..BTW: most TSA agents are ignorant..My passport has a different last name b/c I had it before I was married and I had to show the agent that the change with my new name is in the back..
For2fi says
I don’t think that was racist..in this day and age you can never be to sure .and I just traveled two weeks ago by plane two weeks ago..they searched my weave as well as they searched ther hair of the caucasian women in the front and back of me.and actually they were patting and pulling up their hair more than mines.
NaturalHair2014 says
Well if they are searching All Hair and not just African American then I don’t see a problem with it, and yes they need to change their gloves !!! checkout the Natural HairChallenge… LongHair2014.com
Shannon says
I wear locs and I have gone through a similar situation on my return flight while in a New York airport in March, 2008. I wore my hair in a French Roll and probably had hair pins in my hair. I knew that the “alarm” would go off but…they were not worried about the “pins” but the “rolled hair”. They actually asked me to remove the pins (which I did not). Another security person ( Black female) came up and actually took her fingers and pressed into the “roll” (just for a second) and said, “go on ahead, sister”. She looked more frustrated at her co-workers (white males). She DID, however, apologize for the situation.
As Willed says
americans are scared of the boogeyman. it’s very little you can do to stop a suicide bomber. and the people that profited from united and american airlines, morgan stanley, raytheon, etc. were the ones responsible for 9/11. not Muslim terrorist. 99% of the terrorist this country have ever had has been white. and the powers that be failed to stop them. i think we as a people need to tell our government to back off and let us live in peace and protect ourselves. since they don’t know who or what they are looking for and inept at securing the countryman.
Jasmine says
Not racist simply efficient. She was innocent but many are not. and if the TSA didn’t do hair checks, believe you and me terrorist would use hair as a means of transporting weapons of any kind onto planes. I say search on!
MommieDearest says
My hair was searched at the Alanta airport last month. It was freshly washed, in about 8 twists pinned on top of my head and I was using a scarf as a headband. I was very irritated because after going through the full body scanner (aka electronic strip search) the woman comes to me and says “I need to check your hair” and before I could process what she said or respond she dug her gloved hands into my hair and scalp. I was horrified. Who knows how many other people’s body parts she had touched with those same gloves that were now in my hair? I really wanted to complain to a superior, but I was already running late getting to my gate.
I think much of the security process in the airport is over the top and not really protecting us anyway. And now the hair search is yet another way to selectively degrade people. Slowly but surely our civil liberties are being chipped away. Since I fly often I will now be prepared for this additional invasion of my personal space. The second a TSA agent even looks at my hair I will raise my hand and tell them to stop and change their gloves first before touching my hair. I do not want to catch lice or ringworm or whatever else from those nasty gloves….
Chocolate_ty2000 says
I had my weave patted down at Atlanta airport on my way back from disney and honestly thought nothing of it. I was just glad that they didn’t have to pat down my daughter. We can say now that its going to far but as soon as something happens we are screaming foul. I see a lot that happens out of the public eye. Believe ne its the least of our security problems.
ttyme09 says
As a woman with a heap of hair – I don’t find a search of my head any more uncomfortable than TSA searches period. Nothing racial, nothing, well nothing! Now that my hair is locked, I get it at least partially searched at times. I know things could be hidden in my hair (especially before it was loc’d) – a WHOLE HOUSE could be hidden in her hair! Folks spend too much time getting offended by things!
Yana says
I am a woman and I also have natural hair and I personally don’t see what thie big deal is as far as her getting her hair searched. People are quick to scream about racism, but at the end of the day the TSA agents were just doing their jobs and being thorough with it. After all the 10 year anniversary of 9-11 was just last week. LOL, but her afro is rather Dianna Ross/Chaka Khan’ish and a bomb could easily hide out in there! I wish folks would stop being so sensitive and quick at looking for an offense….
Cassandrard70 says
That’s a lot of hair. I believe they are obligated to do all they can to see to it that we are safe. I don’t know what their attitude toward her was; however, I notice she initially refused a more private search. Not enough of this story to state if it was racially motivated, but from what’s given, I’m siding with the agents.
noporn says
Attitudes of the ones doing the searches and those who are traveling is, for the most part, what decides whether the act is racist or not . I am a white woman with some black children (all grown men), and it has been difficult to witness these types of inconveniences and insults. When my son, a Major in the US Army is searched, and his twin, who is a Christian minister in China is searched, it is more than frustrating. My white daugher and son-in-law have also experienced inconvient and embarassing searches. Traveling together, with our interational family is quite confusing to others, and some of the search staff are simply rude. I am particularly offended when our son is actively searched while wearing his military uniform I am beside myself. But, truth be told, it amazing how many people are stupidly ignorant in regard to their own racism. To fight the battle, so to speak, our sons shave their heads completely before traveling, and the one in the army speaks up for his dad, who is white and nearly bald himself. The world is what it is, and I suppose the airlines are at this time especially careful. I want my ALL my children and grandchildren to be safe, whether they be black, asian or white (and I have some of each). It’s hard to explain all these circuumstances to the little ones, especially since our family works hard to display and maintain the notion of racial equality. I wish there was a way to make the agents and travelers all use common sense and treat others as they deserve. My belief is that we can teach one another by our words and the actions which portray them. However, when our children, of any of their multiple races, travel, we strongly encourage that they keep their cool and not take every inconvenience as a sign of racism. My husband and I have been accused of racism by those who don’t know our family, and ignorance gets all of us nowhere!
missbighair says
Dont think this was racist thing. Probably just a few women trying to find out if its aweave:)