US /
TSA

TSA's New Danger Zone: Afros

Woman complains about search at airport
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2011 6:02 PM CDT
TSA's New Danger Zone: Afros
A frame grab from YouTube of Isis Brantley.   (YouTube)

The latest TSA story making the rounds involves a Dallas woman who says agents humiliated her by searching her afro, reports NBC-Dallas/Fort Worth. "I just heard these voices saying, 'Hey you, hey you, ma'am, stop. Stop—the lady with the hair, you," says hairdresser Isis Brantley. (It's some hair, too: The 53-year-old says she hasn't cut it since age 12.) The incident took place at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, and Brantley says one agent was "digging into her scalp" looking for explosives or weapons.

TSA's explanation: "Additional screening may be required for clothing, headwear or hair where prohibited items could be hidden. This passenger left the checkpoint prior to the completion of the screening process. She was offered but refused private screening." Let the debate begin, but Alex Alvarez at Mediaite has another question: "Was it really necessary for CNN to use a clip from, of all things, Undercover Brother—a film satirizing 70s Blaxploitation films—to highlight the fact that people don’t like strangers touching their hair?" Click for more, including a TV interview with Brantley. (More TSA stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X