Ethnically Speaking, October 18
by Larry Meeks
Dear Larry: I am a stewardess for a major airline, and I ran into a situation that I am not sure I handled in the proper manner. I cannot ask my supervisor or anyone else because I am not sure whether I will get in trouble for not taking care of things correctly.
As the passengers were getting on the plane and taking their assigned seats, an irate woman came to me and said the person sitting next to her was a black man. She demanded to be moved to another seat because she would not tra ...
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Posted by: Matt
Comment: #1
Sat Oct 18, 2008 1:46 PM
I had no idea that people like the racist woman, still exist in this country. Were it not for Larry's reputation for integrity and straightforwardness, I'd suspect the letter was made up. Would this letter have been published if it had involved a black passenger who refused to sit next to a white one?
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Posted by: debbi mcgowan
Comment: #2
Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:39 PM
well about the bigot and the stewardess...i feel she did the right thing to just fix the situation in a quiet way.sure the bigot was being imature, but ohwell, not everybody has a good heart.why make it an even more uncomortable situation for all, beings the black passenger wasn't aware of this foolish person.i feel she made a quick choice and a good one, now if it were a situation where there was no more seats, then kindly escourt the dingbat off the plane. theres just no use for being a baby and crying over somthing that cant be fixed, we are grownups after all
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Posted by: Jon
Comment: #3
Sun Oct 19, 2008 12:53 PM
I imagine this letter would have in fact been published if the races were reversed. Larry Meeks strikes me as someone who is willing to address both sides of prejudice. Sadly this kind of attitude is alive and well in this country. In the sense that the stewardess defused a contentious situation, I wonder if the airline would feel that she handled things correctly. I'm in no way defending the bigot who refused to sit in front of a black man. Ideally that hateful woman would have the option of taking her seat or being escorted off the plane. Better still, if there was an empty seat in first class, I would have given the black gentleman a seat up there, and told the woman her problem was now solved. But the airline may have felt that since there were several empty seats available, it was easier to move her and get the plane off the ground in time.
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Posted by: mgskins
Comment: #4
Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:46 AM
re: bigot
i somewhat agree with your advice, in that i feel the woman should have it made clear that her actions were not acceptable - no business should tolerate bigotry on their premises. I take exception to one thing about your response, however. it is not a federal crime to be a bigot. it is not a federal crime to ask to be moved to another seat for any reason. it isn't against the law to not like people, it is merely extremely rude and socially unacceptable. a significant difference.
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