African American Woman Accuses TSA of Racial Profiling After Hair Search

By Allan Lengel


The Transportation Security Administration, tasked with protecting the nation’s airports, can’t win.



The latest: An African-American woman is accusing TSA of racial profiling after her poofy hair was searched, The Hill newspaper reported.



The paper reported that Laura Adiele told MSNBC on Friday that agents at Seattle’s Sea-Tec Airport told her they needed to inspect her hair after she did a full-body scan. She claims agents made the request because she is black.



“It’s already uncomfortable to be going through a naked body imaging,” she said on MSNBC’s “Jansing and Co.” show. “For me, my hair is my breaking point.”



“I played the race card in this just because I looked around and didn’t see anyone else being searched in that way,” Adiele said. “And at the end of it, I had an African-American flight attendant come up to me and say that she’s had this experience and that she’s seeing it more frequently and that she thought I should complain about it.”



She said TSA agents told her it was policy to check anything that “poofs” from the body. TSA, according to the Hill, said that checking hair is sometimes done as part of its thorough screening of passengers.