A White mother who said she was questioned about human trafficking while traveling with her biracial daughter has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, accusing the company of “blatant racism.”

  • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Had the same when travelling with my ex-girlfriend who was small and East Asian. Yeah, kind of racist of them, but whatever.

    • El Barto@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      If I’m honest, I’m kinda okay if that happened to me, because if their methods are helping to stop actual human trafficking, then it’s worth it.

      I remember me at the beach with my girlfriend once. She was 22 at the time, but looked younger than that - 16 or 17. I looked like, well, the 23 year old dude I was. She fell at some point and I crouched to assist her. A lifeguard walked up to us and the whole time he was addressing her: “are you okay? do you feel safe?” Etc. My girlfriend answered all his questions and then he went away. He probably thought I was some pervert trying to take advantage of the situation. And I was like “I get it.” If she was an actual minor and I was some pervert stranger, I’m glad someone was paying attention to the situation.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Maybe it’s just me, but I would I think a parent would be glad that someone was looking out for their kid. I mean, how difficult was it to prove when they landed that this was her kid? Wouldn’t a drivers license with the same last name suffice, and then everyone just moves on happily ever after? Did they handcuff her or something?

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      The problem is that I’m guessing this mom is getting questions and looks every time she goes out with her daughter.

      The SW staff could have just as easily pulled the names on their tickets- which you’d have to have ID to get, anyhow- as checked their ID. The cops could have done that as well. Including pulling up her id in the DMV database they have access to. “yup. that’s her.”

      The cops could very easily have just pulled the mom’s ID off DMV, looking at the information supplied to buy her ticket. That’ll get them to her on the DMV. If her ID is valid, it won’t offer any more information than is on the DMV, and there’s really no way to prove they’re your kid at all.

      One of the reason I keep old photos (and new) of my niece and nephew- especially photos of me with them- is so to show cops when I get them called on me for being a single man doing “mom”-things at the park. Dealing with cops because you don’t fit some karen’s idea of who should be taking kids to a park gets old very fast.

      And to be perfectly blunt, “you should just be grateful we care” is incredibly ignorant; and the staffer was probably just following protocol. but the reason they did it was fundamentally rooted in racism.

      • reddig33@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        The airline has a record of the passenger’s full name. Just compare the ticket to the parent’s drivers license.

        • dmonzel@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          You mean like you already have to do to get past security on the way to the gate, and again at the gate to get on the plane?

            • dmonzel@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Funny, when I do read the article, it very clearly states the mother and daughter were flying together. Here’s the first two paragraphs. I’ve bolded the parts where it’s clearly stated they were travelling together.

              A White mother who said she was questioned about human trafficking while traveling with her biracial daughter has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, accusing the company of “blatant racism.”

              Mary MacCarthy and her then 10-year-old daughter, both California residents, flew to Denver on Oct. 22, 2021, for a funeral after the sudden death of MacCarthy’s older brother, according to the complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. After landing at the airport, MacCarthy said they were greeted by two armed officers from the Denver Police Department.

    • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      My kids are biracial, coming up and accusing me of having abducted them because I’m white passing is not looking out for my kids, it is telling them they are Other.

    • Frog-Brawler@kbin.social
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      2 years ago

      Nah, parents hate when people look out for their kids. Check out what’s happening in FL… they’re trying to teach kids history in schools and it’s banned as CRT. They’re trying to teach AP Psychology and it’s banned because there’s a chapter about gender non-conformity in the text book.