It's due primarily to the body scanners. It thinks the woman may have explosives in her hair. Authorities think they turn on the scanner because they have thicker hair; many times they have braids or dreadlocks. The TSA warns on its website that “wearing a hairpiece, extensions or a wig as well as a ponytail, a hair bun or braids” may trigger an alarm. Naturally, most black women and other women of color describe the hair pat-downs as intrusive and disrespectful. They said they felt singled out during the process. The ACLU filed a complaint against the TSA in April 2014 asserting that “When that discretion comes into play, unless there is explicit- and implicit-bias training, that can play out in a way that harms people of color, black people.”
The number of complaints filed with the TSA by passengers alleging racial discrimination in hair pat-downs rose from 73 in 2017 to 105 in 2018.
You should keep in mind that the TSA is one of the most diverse agencies in the federal government. One-quarter of the nation’s 46,000 airport screeners are black and 23% are Hispanic, according to Office of Personnel Management data.
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