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Why Black Women With Natural Hair Will Continue to be Searched by TSA

Why Black Women With Natural Hair Will Continue to be Searched by TSA

I was highly disturbed after reading a recent article about Nobanda Nolubabalo, a 23-year-old South African woman who was caught smuggling 1.5kg of cocaine in where else? Her dreadlocks.

The woman attempted to board a plane from Brazil to Bangkok where she was stopped in the airport by authorities because of a suspicious white substance in her hair. Following a search, the substance was determined to be cocaine, which was wrapped in plastic and concealed inside each lock. Make that “artificial locks,” that were tied into her natural hair with yarn.

This was a very thought out and creative way to smuggle drugs into another country. Outside of her messing up with the fallen cocaine residue, this woman used an area of her body she thought would not be thoroughly checked. She was wrong.

We all remember the case where Isis Brantley, an African American woman with natural hair, was patted down by TSA in an Atlanta airport. TSA did an embarrassing search through Brantley’s hair for weapons, then proceeded to say that if she didn’t cooperate, she wouldn’t be able to board the flight.

As a woman with natural hair, we already have enough to worry about when traveling. Will our hair withstand the humidity when we land or will our expensive hair products make it through the checkpoint or be thrown away by a disgruntled employee? To add to the list, our concerns are now heightened to whether airport security will repeatedly run their fingers through our masterpiece of last night’s hard work in search of drugs.

I don’t have dreadlocks, but I do sympathize for women who do. If black women were feeling singled out by TSA before, we have every idea of what to expect now.

Women with natural hair wonder why in the world TSA would feel the need to search through their fro, twists, or locks. Well, thanks to Nolubabalo, they have every reason to suspect you may be hoarding 1.5kg of more of illegal drugs to smuggle into your final destination.

This is ridiculous and this is why black women with natural hair will continue to be improperly profiled  by airport TSA.

–mckenzie harris

What are your thoughts?

 

 

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