As seen in a photo obtained by CNN, the display included two toy gorillas and a noose. A spokeswoman for the agency declined to give a detailed description of the display, which was in a part of the airport not accessible to the public, citing concern that doing so would draw further attention to the offensive imagery.
“The display was immediately removed and an investigation was launched into who was responsible for the unacceptable behavior,” the agency said in a statement. “TSA does not tolerate racist or offensive behavior, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions.”
A spokesman for Miami International Airport declined to comment.
The photo obtained by CNN had previously been posted to the Instagram account @blackpeopleofthegram on Friday.
The display featured imagery historically used to intimidate and dehumanize African Americans.
Although nooses were used for centuries to execute people, they are now more closely associated with a grim chapter in American history: the widespread lynching of African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the noose is a potent, threatening symbol of racial terror, one cited by name in some state hate crime laws.
In February, luxury brand Burberry apologized for a hoodie sweatshirt with a nooselike detail around the neck and pulled the garment from its collection. Later that month, a noose was discovered at a Boeing assembly plant in South Carolina, prompting an investigation. “There is absolutely no place for racism and these cowardly acts,” a company vice president said.
In March, more than a dozen black UPS workers in Ohio filed a lawsuit against the shipping company for promoting a “persistent and continuing racially hostile work environment” after colleagues hung nooses and Confederate flags and spoke openly of attending Ku Klux Klan meetings.
The gorilla imagery borrows from a long history of dehumanization of African Americans by whites.
According to the TSA, officers immediately reported the incident to management and the display was removed. An investigation is underway.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.