Did American Airlines Pull a Rosa Parks Racist Move With a Black Woman??
When you pay for a specific type of service, you expect to receive it. This is why a retired Black judge is claiming racial discrimination after she was essentially blocked from using the first-class restroom that she paid for.
In February, retired judge Pamela Hill-Veal and her family were on a first-class flight from Chicago to Phoenix, according to NPR.
Sounds normal right? Except during the flight, when she simply used the first-class restroom and attempted to return to her seat, a flight attendant stopped and accused her of slamming the restroom door and allegedly told her, “ I was not to do it again since passengers were sleeping on the plane.”
Hill-Veal claims that she never slammed the door initially.
Despite the orders she received, Hill-Veal did not respond to them and walked back to her seat.
Things only got worse after she used the restroom a second time, saying that the flight attendant, “began to berate me by pointing his finger at me towards my face and saying, ‘I told you not to slam the door...so from now on, you are to use the restroom in the back of the plane’ while he pointed in the direction of the restroom in coach.”
More from NPR:
Hill-Veal says that about 30 minutes prior to landing, she used the restroom for a third time. Once she was leaving, the same flight attendant followed her to her seat and began to physically touch her and explain that she would be arrested upon the flight landing.
Hill-Veal says that about 30 minutes prior to landing, she used the restroom for a third time. Once she was leaving, the same flight attendant followed her to her seat and began to physically touch her and explain that she would be arrested upon the flight landing.
Hill-Veal insists that she never hit the flight attendant.
This entire incident caused her to send a complaint to American Airlines, saying that the interaction between her and the flight attendant was racially motivated since the other passengers on the plane, whom she says were white, were able to use the first-class restroom with no problem and were not told the use the economy restroom in the back of the plane.
The name and race of the flight attendant were not specified in the complaint Hill-Veal sent to American Airlines, according to NPR.
In a statement, American Airlines said, “We strive to ensure that every customer has a positive travel experience, and we take all claims of discrimination very seriously.”
This canbe questioned since this isn’t the first time Black passengers have taken issue with American Airlines’ treatment: In September 2023, David Ryan Harris, a black singer-songwriter, wasaccused of trafficking his children during a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles and was forced to explain himself to authorities once he landed.
In July 2019, a Black woman claimed that she and her son were told to leave an American Airlines flight because her romper was deemed inappropriate, when in actuality, it wasn’t.
