Here we are in 2019, and somehow history continues to repeat itself. There are still people who are uncomfortable with being next to Black people or people of color, even on a crowded airplane.
That was the case for Spirit Airlines passenger Tiarra Dow, who was simply trying to take her flight from Las Vegas to Chicago recently. She had already been waiting for over 12 hours after her original flight was delayed. However, just after boarding the new flight, she was met with an unpleasant surprise.
The passenger who was in the seat next to hers, a white woman, refused to sit next to a Black woman.
Tiarra expressed her hurt and embarrassment via several Facebook posts that have since gone viral.
“She refuses it to the point that she is arguing with the flight attendant about how she is not going to let me sit by her,” Tiarra wrote on Facebook.
“This 4-hour flight is about to feel like a lifetime. I’m am so embarrassed and heartbroken.”
The passenger blocked the seat that Tiarra was supposed to take. This forced Tiarra to have to ask other passengers on the plane to switch with her so that the flight could take off.
Flight attendants “thanked” her for being the bigger person and being a team player.
“I shouldn’t have needed to switch seats to accommodate her choice of what race she wanted next to her and her husband,” she wrote. “Why do I have to be a team player to someone who is obviously putting her racist cards on the table,”
Needless to say, Tiara was upset that the airline failed her in this situation. After the posts picked up traction, Spirit Airlines issued a statement.
“Spirit Airlines has launched an investigation into this incident and we have reached out directly to the Guest to address her concerns,” reads a statement from Spirit Airlines media relation manager, Derek Dombrowski.
“Spirit Airlines has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind on our flights and we pride ourselves on providing an inclusive and safe environment for our Guests.”
Many of the passengers on the flight were on Tiarra’s side and expressed their own disappointment in the racist passenger.
Related: Woman Claims That Delta Airlines Sided With Racist Who Hit Her Daughter
Some people on Facebook felt that she should have taken matters into her own hands, but Tiarra was just thankful to make it home safe.
“At the end of the day, I was able to come home to my kid to share my experience with you all,” Tiarra explained on Facebook. “This was my experience I handled it the best way that I could.”
What would you have done in this situation?
