Expert Hall on Targeted TSA Searching Methods

In 2015, TSA agents were allegedly going to stop searching black women’s hair during regular airport security checks. However, as a recent Cosmopolitan article reveals, the practice is still in place, as many women attest. For this article, Rachel Hall, an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, spoke with the publication about why this is still occurring.

“Groups of people who’ve been historically treated as suspects fear [being viewed as a suspect] more than those who’ve have enjoyed the privilege of being innocent until proven guilty historically,” Hall said, adding that these assumptions continue a cycle of discrimination in airport security.