But with the return to air travel came an unpleasant experience: Rodriguez had her hair searched by airport security agents three times in less than two months. The third time it happened was about two weeks ago, at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. “I was really upset because it’s just — it’s not random. It happens to me, like, every time I travel,” Rodriguez, of Montreal, told CBC News. Rodriguez, who is of mixed race background, often wears her crown with her brown hair in a ponytail. Even when she undid her ponytail and shook her hair at the security gate, agents said they would have to check her hair with their hands, she said. “They don’t seem to understand that it’s deeply offensive and invasive,” Rodriguez said. Nancy Falaise is a black hairstylist in Montreal who specializes in curly hair. Falaise said there is a history of black women having their hair touched by strangers without their consent, and mixed into that history is the persecution black women have faced for wearing natural hairstyles. Nancy Falaise, who runs workshops at her Montreal salon for black girls struggling with curly hair, said black women share their stories of strangers touching their hair without consent. (Nancy Lab | CBC Briefs) “It reinforces the trauma we’ve suffered for years about not feeling pretty enough, always having to straighten our hair to look professional,” Falaise said. “And now we can’t catch a flight with our crowns?” Rodriguez said the searches, conducted at three different airports in Canada, took place after she entered the body scanning machine at the security gate. The first time, on May 20, Rodriguez said she thought the request was a joke, but went ahead with it because the agent conducting the search was a black woman. “I didn’t feel too threatened because it probably could relate to my experience,” Rodriguez said. The second time it happened was in June and the third time two weeks later. The checks were starting to feel like a “physical violation,” he said.
Are scanners triggered by specific styles?
In the US, there have been several reports of black women with curly hair having similar experiences. In 2015, a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California prompted the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to conduct sensitivity training “with a particular focus on the hair blowing of black travelers,” according to the ACLU. . But even after that, ProPublica, an American non-profit investigative journalism organization, found that disasters still happened frequently. ProPublica surveyed several hundred women of all races with curly hair. He said the alarms on the scanners, which are now in most international airports across North America, are “often set off by certain hairstyles” and that agents are required to give a pat-down when that happens. The TSA put out a request to vendors in 2018 for help “improving screening of headgear and hair in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” according to ProPublica. “This law prohibits federally funded organizations and programs from discriminating — even unintentionally — on the basis of race, color, or national origin.”
CATSA aims for a ‘respectful’ approach.
CBC contacted the Canadian Aviation Security Authority (CATSA), which is responsible for screening people and baggage at airports across the country. In a written response, CATSA said that while it cannot comment on a specific case until it investigates a formal complaint, the federal agency aims to screen people in a respectful and professional manner. She encouraged Rodriguez to file a complaint, which she says she has done. “When an issue is identified, we work to investigate and review the passenger screening process and ensure procedures are followed and additional training is provided for screening staff if needed,” said CATSA spokeswoman Suzanne Perseo. Fo Niemi, executive director of the Race Relations Action Research Center, says airport security agents need to undergo sensitivity training. (Kwabena Oduro/CBC) Fo Niemi, director of the Montreal-based Center for Research and Action on Race Relations, said hair checks appear to have become more common in Canada. He said CATSA agents should undergo racial sensitivity training with a particular focus on gender, so that if protocol still requires agents to pat down people’s hair, they can do so with a more careful approach . “Many black travelers have experienced disparate treatment and excessive screening at airports,” Niemi said. “This is another incident that may ultimately require policy change.” For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians – from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community – check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here. (CBC)
