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A 50- something year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn't want the seat. The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The woman said "I cannot sit here next to this black man." The fight attendant said "Let me see if I can find another seat."
After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated "Ma'am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class." About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated "The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class."
Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, "Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn't want you to sit next to an unpleasant person." Passengers in the seats nearby began to applause while some gave a standing ovation.
This is the way I *wanted* society to go (since I'm like 12), and I'm very happy to see it. About time. There's no excuse for racism; we (humankind) do not have time for this; it's simplistic thinking, and it's mean, and it's baseless. Time for it to go away, and the sooner the better.
Fake story, of which different versions keep doing the rounds on the internet (white woman/black man, decent man vs beeyotch, decent woman vs arsehole, homophobe vs gay or lesbian, you get the drift). It's to make people feel good, but the real world is not so nice.
In the real world, they would probably accommodate such a woman's desires (note that this particular woman is fictional) in the interest of preventing an argument.
I LOVE it!
Big kudos to the flight attendant and the captain.
And seriously, in 2014, what kind of person thinks that such a request is OK at any level?
Unfortunately, there are still many people who still do think this way although they're becoming fewer. There are many others, however, who encourage this kind of BS because they denigrate people who stand up to bad behavior as "political correct".
OP, doing the right thing is NEVER, EVER "political correctness". It's just the right thing to do.
Full disclosure: this was posted on my personal Facebook page by one of my mentors, a very much loved department chair and genius composer. I'm not about to tell him it's a fake story, and I think the point to be made is independent of whether it's factual or not.
Maya Angelou remarked once that when you hear a racist remark, you are obliged to say something. I agree. I will not be silent in the presence of racist behavior or remarks and I *will* say something, regardless of the consequences. The one and only time I didn't was in my parents' living room, when the brother of my grandfather's new wife sat there and said the N word, over and over again. My dad looked at me (I was a child) and I knew if I said anything, I'd just embarrass my parents and that I'd get it.
The guy was clearly an idiot, everyone knew it, and it wasn't my place, at that time and place, to tell him so. But aside from that, no silence from me on this issue. I think this is pretty common with musicians: I have values!! Is the person kind, do they have a good work ethic, do they love their family, are they intelligent, talented, have a sense of humor, etc. Ethnicity is secondary.
That doesn't sound like a true story but it does have a happy ending. Sadly the issuee of race will never go away. We humans are visual and the quickest way to point someone out is, that Asian guy, that black woman, that white kid with the overalls etc....
With the election of President Obama it was all about THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT I didn't see any headlines that stated the BEST MAN FOR THE JOB WON. I think Obama has brought race to the forefront but not in a good way. I believe that his opposition and the media has treated him with kid gloves out of fear being labelled a racist.
Of course pop culture, and rap music hasn't done much besides perpetuating the "THUG" mentality and that frightens alot of white folk. There might come a time in this country when a person will be judged by their character and not the colour of their skin but I fear that is a long way off.
My 90 something mother was in the hospital and a black nurse was sent to give her a bath. He asked if she objected. "Not at all," she replied.
I appreciate the story posted about the unpleasant woman. Yes, a good story even if it's fake. I also think racism will never die because one side will not allow it to happen. It will be the actions such as Cape Cod Todd describes that keeps it going. I very much wanted the president to succeed, but, he didn't. If I criticize him, it's labeled racist. A white president lacks such protection. In a restaurant, if a server keeps a white couple waiting, it's poor service. If the server keeps a black couple waiting, it's racist.
My 90 something mother was in the hospital and a black nurse was sent to give her a bath. He asked if she objected. "Not at all," she replied.
In a restaurant, if a server keeps a white couple waiting, it's poor service. If the server keeps a black couple waiting, it's racist.
Re: the nurse; I'm pretty sure it's because he was male and your mom is female. I don't think race was the reason for his question. I think he would be offended actually to know that his race even came into play.
As for the restaurant example, you're right that there are many false allegations of racism, but they exist because racism is very much alive in the real world. I can give you a list of incidents where I felt I was treated badly because of my ethnicity. I strongly doubt that I'm right on all of them, but I know that at least some of them were racist incidents.
Re: the nurse; I'm pretty sure it's because he was male and your mom is female. I don't think race was the reason for his question. I think he would be offended actually to know that his race even came into play.
As for the restaurant example, you're right that there are many false allegations of racism, but they exist because racism is very much alive in the real world. I can give you a list of incidents where I felt I was treated badly because of my ethnicity. I strongly doubt that I'm right on all of them, but I know that at least some of them were racist incidents.
I think, you know, frankly, I feel more passionately about this issue than any other. Maybe because I'm sort of an outlander, myself: I'm so tall, bookish, independent, and I guess sort of ahead of my time with respect to social justice issues surrounding feminism. I just can't understand, or relate to, why anyone would be mean to someone on the basis of race: it's just such a lazy way of thinking, stereotyping some group and not seeing their beauty and humanity.
Often, I've wanted to protect friends (and students!) from this sort of thing, and not known how. I'm totally an a-theist, but, as they say, the Lord Jesus has already died for our sins: if I could give my life to change human behavior and protect people, I would gladly. But it doesn't work like that. The only thing I can do, it seems to me, is to be kindly towards the people who come into my circle. I don't know what else can be done.
Things are better--and I'm old enough to remember how it was in the past. But not resolved. It's not over. IMHO, racism is the most important issue in the last century, and this one, too.
I'm sorry if you have had to endure this; I don't know how to fix it.
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