As our hair is part of our body, it is literally the same thing.
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That. Doesn’t. Mean. In. This. Case. It’s. Not. Racist.
Are you Native, too? If so, part of the reason this might have happened to you, is because of the long dehumanization of Native peoples on this continent.
YES, we realize it’s inappropriate when it happens to ANYONE, but specifics and context matter, too. This kind of dehumanizing thing is more likely to happen to people of color, than it is to happen to white people. Saying that it’s just about the weirdness of this particular situation is in fact ignoring the specific context of this.
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I completely disagree. Intent certainly does matter. Calling a political opponent Pocahontas is drastically different that somebody that doesn’t realize that the phrase “they gyped me” is a slur and when educated on the matter never uses the phrase again. Yes, they are both racist acts however one is performed with malice and one is correctable ignorance.
In the above instance, we really don’t have enough facts to condemn the TSA agent for being the former or the latter. Was this the only instance of her behavior? Was there a distinct pattern? The victim only wanted to educate the agent on the matter. My thoughts exactly. Give people the benefit of the doubt. If they’re truly assholes, they’ll let you know soon enough.
I’m going to put on my HR/legal hat here and point out that there is a very distinct difference between inappropriate behavior and illegal discriminatory behavior towards a protected class. Was the agent acting inappropriately? Yes. Were they being discriminatory towards a protected class? We don’t have enough information to answer that question. If I made the call to fire the TSA agent for illegal discrimination with only the information in the above article (that a majority of the people in this thread are citing as impenetrable proof) I would expect to lose the more-than-certain wrongful-termination court case in a heartbeat.
Well, as always, I respect all of your opinions and thank you for the conversation.
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Look, people aren’t wrong that this would be inappropriate if done to anyone. It’s particularly egregious because of the dehumanizing and humiliating of a Native American woman.
It’s inherently racist behavior not just because of the act itself, but because of who it was done to, regardless of intent. The racism is baked into the thoughtless, “I can do this to this person because of who they are.” Whereas doing the same thing to a white woman in the US is a good way to get booted so fast you’ll show up on radar.
ETA:
It matters in judging how bad the behavior was, not in whether it was racist. Who it was done to determines whether it was racist.
There’s your problem. HR seeks to answer the question, “Can we get away with this?” not “Is this the right thing to do?”
Likewise. 
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When Houska informed the agent that her actions were dehumanizing and disrespectful, the agent explained that she was having “fun.”
So rather than any attempt at defending her actions, she simply admitted that she takes pleasure in hurting others, making herself look even worse. At least she’s honest.
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And she noted it as such.
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Whoa buddy. Not “my” problem. I was fired from my last job because I did side with the employees more often than not. That company had a severe diversity/toxic environment problem and refused to acknowledge it. Even though I was hired to “fix their Glassdoor rating” they continuously told me I needed to “cut out the cancer”. (Yeah, they called people who felt slighted and spoke up about it “cancer”. Disgusting.)
All that being said, sometimes the employee is right and sometimes the boss is right. You won’t know until you hear both sides.
Cheers. My apologies if I upset you or failed to articulate my position. I appreciate your passion for this subject (which is a hugely important one) even if it’s blasting my way.
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I learned in first or second grade not to play with someone else’s hair. (My older sister taught me a few hard knuckle lessons about personal space.) But even if it was my job to inspect someone’s hair, I think I would try to find a respectful way to do so.
This was an example of how not to do it. TSA should take some disciplinary action, IMO.
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Can you clarify this? Do you mean that the company had a problem in that it did not hire diverse staff? It’s unclear from how your phrase that.
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The TSA needs to be abolished along with the department of “homeland security” of which it is a part along with the rest of the Bush era bullshit.
The tsa agent who did this should fired and banned from ever having a job with power over other people.
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Sorry - I meant that as a general phrase, as in the Adam Savage usage:
And also that it is the function of HR. It’s built into the system, whether the people are good or bad, competent or incompetent. The purpose of HR is to protect the company, not to determine righteousness.
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Yeah, I get it. That’s why I didn’t do so well in a pure HR role. I kind of slid in through the Learning & Development tunnel. I’ve been a lifelong educator so I really enjoy helping people understand stuff. I also believe in a fair playing field. That’s what nailed me.
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WTF? Did you even read what I said. In fact, I said it 3 times. THIS IS ASSAULT. The person should be prosecuted.
Please, quote me where I said racism or discrimination had nothing to do with it? Quote me or retract your comments.
My reaction after reading though all the comments on this post, let alone the fucked-up nature of the post itself:
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Dude, you are disrespecting a culture (excuse me, “magical thinking”) you do not know or understand. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. You clearly did not deserve it. I maintain that is not ok. You think it is. Move on.
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And I’m sure she was not comfortable being played with like a damn human doll for the amusement of someone paid to grope her.
Apparently some people lack perspective genes. You seem to be one of them.
So I will spell this out for you directly and succinctly- decent human beings do not treat other human beings like inanimate objects or animals or play things. They treat them with basic respect especially when they are being paid to disregard respect by searching people.
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Agreed. She was not OK with that interaction and rightfully so. I certainly don’t dismiss that. If you care to read the entire thread I’ve never apologized for the actions of the TSA agent. Several members of this community have stated that I have indirectly but I reject that claim outright as I’m only trying to seek clarity.
As you’ve stated (and accused me of) some people lack “perspective genes”. The person that doesn’t understand personal bubbles and crowds you in line at the market. The person that nudges you a bit too hard when you’re not guffawing at their lame jokes. All I’m asking is if this deviation from your and my social norms indicates that somebody’s a racist. Possibly, if indeed they’ve singled out someone based on race, but I would rather understand more before I jump to that conclusion. In my opinion, being racist is one of the most horrible things a person can be. People can choose to be assholes but they can’t choose where or what color they were born.
Broken record: if this TSA lady indeed thought it was all in good fun and did this to everybody with braids, I’m not OK with labeling her a racist based solely on the information we’re aware of. Somebody that doesn’t understand how her role impacts travelers’ emotional well-being? Absolutely. This shouldn’t have happened to anyone whatsoever but, let’s be honest, a frontline TSA job is an entry level position and I have zero faith in the TSA to provide proper diversity training.
I’ve posted quite clearly multiple times in this thread that with more information I’m completely OK with taking a more solid position. I prefer to have a better understanding of the entire picture before passing judgement. There are people who are extroverted and don’t know the wake they create and how it affects others.
Need input.
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I would like to hear from the TSA agent herself and not through the TSA spokesperson. It’s pretty easy to tell a fake apology that accepts no ownership from somebody that truly didn’t understand the impact of their actions and is regretful.
OK, please tell me - why are you so adamant on defending this agent? Being extroverted and not knowing “the wake they create” is no excuse whatsoever, because extroverted or not, a decent adult person does not treat a stranger, any stranger, this way, especially in a professional environment when they’re in a position of authority over the other. I know a ton of extroverted people, and they’ve never done anything like that since they passed age 10 or so.
A person who does something like this is a person who lacks impulse control, decency and any empathy whatsoever, and this is not something that can be excused with “oh they didn’t mean any harm”. If someone thinks that treating another person, a stranger, like a toy for your entertainment is okay if you “don’t mean any harm” then they need psychological re-evaluation, education on how to be a decent human being, and another job. What more “input” do you need? People are not machines, ffs.
And I think it’s really obvious why this incident, where this agent’s dickishness was revealed, involved a person who belongs to a minority whose traditional looks are regarded as “weird” “funny” etc. by trash like this, and not a white person…
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I hadn’t heard much about Tara Houska before. I had an enjoyable scroll through her social media. She just exudes positivity in spite of working against some very grave injustices and truly horrible organizations. I’m glad to have had the opportunity, though I wish the circumstances under which I discovered her were more pleasant.
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That really cracked me up. Thank you very much. 
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