YouTube sensation and comedian Jasmeet Singh, known by his moniker “Jus Reign,” spent two days in the Bay Area last month to speak at UC Berkeley and host an after-party for a Berkeley culture show in San Francisco.
His otherwise relaxing trip was marred by an altercation with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the San Francisco International Airport, however. The incident brought to light the always apparent, but lightly covered topic of cultural insensitivity by the TSA in airports.
At the security checkpoint, Singh — a Sikh — was asked to remove his turban within a private screening area to ensure prohibited items were not smuggled onto an aircraft. While this request may have been considered rude to many, Singh had no problem with it, as he was used to this treatment at other airports.
What crossed the line, though, was the fact that after the additional screening of Singh’s turban, TSA denied his request for a personal mirror to re-tie his turban in front of. Instead, security personnel told him to walk to the other end of the terminal to the public bathroom and tie it on using a mirror there.
Though it may have seemed trivial, this instance ignited a larger issue — a lack of racial acceptance in the general working world. Lower profile cases very similar to this one happen often in airports, but it shouldn’t take a celebrity case to spark change.
The turban is sacred in Sikh culture, tantamount to the hijab that Muslim women wear. Sikhs are expected to keep their hair covered while in public, and the removal of a turban is restricted for intimate occasions, such as bathing. Given this, walking across an entire airport terminal without it on would have been embarrassing and insulting to Singh.
The TSA is just as responsible for keeping itself in check as it is for keeping airline passengers in check. If passengers are to respect the TSA’s wishes as they go through security to board their flights, the TSA personnel must be ready to demonstrate respect for the cultural values of every passenger in return.
