A United Airlines passenger sitting in first class – he and his family were all upgraded – snapped a photo of a woman in the cabin texting racial epithets about him. (He and his family are black.)
The flight was rom Charleston, South Carolina to Denver. Boarding was delayed, and he says the woman was rude to him from the start. She winds up as the passenger in front of them in the first class cabin.
Before she sat down in her first class seat (I was upgraded before takeoff) she put her bag up, looked me dead in the face and flipped me off.
She takes her rage out in a text stream with a friend. The man “notified the flight attendants and the captain determined he did not want her on the flight.” The plane had already left the gate, but turned around to offload her. Two gate agents escorted her off, and police were waiting at the gate. Here are the texts:
“Flipping off” another passenger seems enough of a reason to be ejected from the aircraft. But what about the texts? They did suggest an escalation (hoping that the man would throw the “first lunch” by which she presumably meant punch).
Are those reason for cabin crew to be concerned about the safety of the flight (how things might escalate) or private communications where other passengers shouldn’t be snooping – let alone taking photos? Should those be the basis for an ejection?
Last year a Delta Air Lines passenger was called out by their seat opponent over racist texts that weren’t kept private. Nothing happened to the passenger, though, other than having to sit uncomfortably for the flight after being exposed.
@taila.thecreator Sitting next to a racist on my four hour flight from Puerto Rico to Atlanta this week. Yes I could’ve minded my own business, but why should I let him slide? I happened to glance over and see the words “big black woman” so I continued reading. He and his family went on and on about the woes of being stuck sitting next to Black and gay people. Then I see this man say he hopes airlines continue to raise prices so these people get weeded out. If you’re gonna be bold enough to pull your phone out in the middle seat of an airplane and freely talk disrespectfully about Black people, then I’m going to be bold enough to say something to you. What would you have done? #traveltiktok #racistoftheday #racistencounter #airplanedrama #travelingwhileblack #blacktravelfeed ♬ original sound – Taila • Travel Tips
@taila.thecreator Replying to @TXSM9999 ♬ original sound – Taila • Travel Tips
@taila.thecreator Replying to @mamamimi1976 He wouldn’t even think in my direction when the plane landed. #racistsinthewild #airplaneencounters #blacktravelers #embarrassed ♬ original sound – Taila • Travel Tips
There’s an apocryphal story that’s made rounds on the internet since at least the late 1990s about a racist passenger complaining about being seated next to someone they deemed undesirable and demanding a flight attendant do something about it – and she did, upgrading the victim of this racism. The story was even turned into a public service advertisement in Portugal.
In this case, the passengers were already seated in first class! And the racist text woman no longer was.
Do not eavesdrop or look at other people’s screens. They are entitled to say whatever they want in private conversations.
Good for the pilot and United. Looks like this one just wanted a fight
I can argue either side of this argument (her privacy vs booting her), but in the end “bad things happen to bad people”, so I karma dictates booting her was the right thing.
Racism doesn’t make one a bad person.
People should have the right to be offensive in private conversations. I despise racism, but I also don’t believe we need thought police.,Flipping a person off may be something else, though.
Kudos to UA crew. Actions such as flipping off a fellow passenger and being out of control angry are absolutely grounds for pulling this passenger off. With such people, enforcement is often the only option. Perhaps others will hear about this and temper their attitude and actions.
It’s not a “private conversation” if you let other people see your screen. Good reason to throw her off the plane – sounded like a trouble maker.
SFO/EWR says:
August 1, 2024 at 1:33 pm
Racism doesn’t make one a bad person.
It sure doesn’t make you a good person
If I catch people snooping at my phone, I have a few ear wax removal videos saved that I put on.
While I don’t condone the behavior of the person writing the texts, it is also her right to do so. However, there is no expectation of privacy in public (could be argued if the cabin of a private company’s aircraft is a public place). Then again, the contract of carriage basically allows the airline to boot you for any reason it wants as long as it’s not a Title VII violation.
I think people should keep their eyes on their own work. Peoples true selves will be their downfall eventually.
Yes–it makes them a very bad person
Headline is misleading. She did more than just send private texts
God ppl are so nosey.
Well if she flipped someone off right from the start, that should be enough to get her booted off the flight. Aggressive behavior on a crowded aircraft is a BAD recipe, the pilot was correct in removing the offender before there was some form of escalation.
Always behave as you want other people to behave, keep your thoughts and texts to yourself- or at least until you deplane-and Gary will have to write about something else
There is a difference between a “private conversation” (which includes exchanging text messages) and having a “private conversation in a public place.” As the phrase goes, one can have “a reasonable expectation of privacy,” but if you really want your texts — or whatever is on your laptop screen, for that matter — to actually BE private, invest in a privacy screen so the person next to you can’t read your phone/computer/whatever…
Texting with no regard to the others around you who can view your text is, to me, akin to having a private conversation on your cell but doing it on speakerphone. Do I want to hear her conversation? No, but I have no choice. And human nature ensures that people will read her texts if the screen is viewable.
Her public racism “trumps” her private First Amendment rights — for nothing was private — and she deserved getting thrown off the plane.
I’m baffled by this. She just goes around randomly flipping people off? Was she drunk? I don’t see how you go through life acting like that especially flying first class
My guess is that she did not just randomly flip this guy off. Some sort of negative interaction preceded this. Kicking her off for this is one thing. But she has the right to express her hateful views in a message to friends. Seems like this is an overreaction to hateful, though harmless, venting. I wonder if the reaction would have been this extreme if the races were reversed. Or if these comments were made about an overweight flyer or someone inappropriately dressed.
My God. These are private conversations. First I can’t believe someone would violate someone’s privacy like that, but even more so, I can’t believe someone would announce they did it.
And still more bizarre, the “bad guy” here is someone who’s privacy has been violated and not the person who flipped off a fellow first class passenger.
The privacy issue is debatable. But the flip-off is not. An ounce of prevention (the boot-off) is worth a possible expensive pound of cure—a diversion later.
Well at least United didn’t El Kabong the offender with a guitar, give her a concussion, knock out a few teeth and drag her off the plane.
You say the passenger is a he but the text says “her.”
Moderators also deleted the post
I agree with Larry C. If a picture can be taken of me in a public space without my permission then it would seem that any person in a public space has no right of privacy. If another member of the public can see or take photos of your screen be it a phone or laptop then they probably have every right to do so and to make the airline aware of its content. Imagine if it was a threat to the airplane? You would be lauded for raising the issue. The only question in my mind would be if a plane is considered a public space but quite frankly I don’t care, the person who was writing those texts could be construed as pretty dumb to let the texts be seen and it would also seem that the content was describing how they were going to incite the family in to a confrontation. What the intent of this is anyone’s guess. Sickening, low and racist – disgusting behavior – ban that person from the airline.
In the end, property rights prevail as it should be.
Good, unstable racists do not belong on commercial airplanes. Unless in cuffs
The reportedly racist passenger was writing in plane (sic) view of a passenger whom the reportedly racist passenger acknowledged in writing to want to provoke a fight? The problem is not the viewing of the plain text message but of the text message writer wanting a worse confrontation.
@Jeanine S Way to go in your comprehension of the concept of racism and how it is similar to the concept of dressing badly.
Two things.
1. I think she was very classy in how she dealt with him. I’m not sure what I would have done. As a Black Man who buys or gets upgraded often, I have had passengers and even flight attendants assume that I was a non-rev, and I have boiled and said nothing.
2. For those who are saying that she was invading his private space or that it’s his phone and he can do what he wants, would the same be said if he was watching hardcore porn on his phone? Hasn’t there been situations where flight attendants have demanded that people turn off the porn from their phones?
America has always been a racist society. Trump has given them a platform and emboldened them to act out. That’s just the way it is. Some things will never change.
The Portuguese advertisement is clearly based on the aesthetic of the German short film “Schwartzfahrer” from 1993. It is readily available on YouTube, and one of the most delightful films to watch.
> SFO/EWR says:
> August 1, 2024 at 1:33 pm
> Racism doesn’t make one a bad person.
please explain your logic, SFO/EWR
#1. An Airplane is not a public space.
They both should have been escorted off the flight.
Clearly there was some tension pre-boarding, and clearly the person flipping someone off is an obvious violation of most airlines expected code of conduct for passengers. Asking police to investigate and determine if the passenger was committing harassments also seems reasonable.
But its fairly clear from the photo that the texter/flipper wasn’t shoving there tiny phone screen under the nose. That photo was clearly taken by pushing a phone/camera over a seat gap into a space that would otherwise not be visible. I can’t say I am happy that United is implicitly condoning covert photographic of passengers by other passengers. This type of actions is about as aggressive as flipping someone off, and this shouldn’t be tolerated in these semi-public spaces.
Oh well, yet another long list of reasons to avoid United.
I’m not defending the text but the person doing the reporting got outted on Reddit, and the original post deleted, because of past unhinged behavior. There may be more to this than we know
I’m a little surprised that anyone is defending this as a breach of privacy. The Supreme Court has already ruled in Katz that an expectation of privacy has to be reasonable. If you are on a plane with 100 strangers and then can all see you by opening their eyes and pointing them in your direction, it would not be reasonable to consider that a private space.
The only place on an airplane that is considered private is the restroom. The cockpit is a restricted area.
While in public, you are permitted to record whatever your eyes can see, including someone else’s phone. Your seat on a plane buys you a small parcel of *personal space* that someone cannot physically intrude upon without violating your personal space, and that would have to be addressed by the airline as a *policy* matter, but it has nothing to do with Constitutional law and privacy. If you want that personal space to be private, you need to *create* the privacy, either with a privacy screen or by shielding the device from visibility such that no one can see it without invading your personal space.
That is the law. The supreme law of the land. It does not bend for racists or anyone else. You can not like the law, but if you want to change it, you need to bring a new case before the Supreme Court so convincing that they overturn Katz v United States. Good luck with that.
@Jeanine S
That’s an awful lot of hypotheticals to attempt to prove a point. How about just dealing with the facts at hand?
The right to offend includes the right to be offended. In other words, if you choose to play stupid games, you’d better be prepared to collect your prizes
Rasicm is wrong in every term but if a person is racist that doesn’t mean he is a bad perosn.
The more racist a person, the more misanthropic the person is. I consider misanthropes to be worse people than good people.
I hope Sara above gets on board with loving her future descendants with more genetic diversity than she has herself. Genetic diversity is good for the species, so she should encourage herself and any descendants of hers to get on board with breeding across diverse demographic groups as it’s good for the future of the species and for evolutionary success of even her own genetic line.
Racism is not acceptable at all.
Being a racist isn’t a crime. To take a photo of someone’s screen in the row in front of you, you would have to (a) stand up, (b) maneuver your camera into the gap between the seats, (c) or maneuver your camera into the aisle. The person texting had a reasonable expectation of privacy. If the person was having a voice conversation, that would be different. Some airlines also prohibit the photography of other passengers on the plane.
First, I’ve seen families come into first class and lounges loudly and rudely. Kids are screaming while the parents have that “my kid is also your problem” attitude. Not saying this is the case but it happens much more today than decades ago when parents (like mine) believed they had a responsibility to control their children in a public setting.
What she said might be awful and if she’s going to say something like this don’t make the text visible to others. She’s at fault too.
There’s an apocryphal story that’s made rounds on the internet since at least the late 1990s about a racist passenger complaining about being seated next to someone they deemed undesirable and demanding a flight attendant do something about it – and she did, upgrading the victim of this racism.
That actually happened to me in mid 1990’s flying ORD-STN flight on AA. I was just out of high school and was seated when the FA told me to grab my bag and move and I was upgraded to J. I had no idea why as I had my headphones on and was reading the inflight magazine while in my original seat. The only way I found out what happened was that once we were airborne a few of the FA’s came up to me and apologized for the racist behavior of the passenger sitting next to me.
Whatever happened to free speech? Especially in a private conversation? If someone intrudes into a private conversation I’m having, they should be prepared for severe retribution. Not right then, but eventually and when they least expect it.
@FNT Delta Diamond – Did you read what Mocha wrote? Is he wrong?
I’m afraid that if you believe that a person typing written messages in full view of others in a crowded “public” space is entitled to keeping those messages private, your understanding of applicable law is somewhat limited. Also, the wonderful thing about epic jackasses is that given enough time, they usually expose their true selves on the record, as the passenger removed from this particular flight once again demonstrated.
FNT Delta Diamond or “severe retribution” DFWSteve concerned someone will out their or other passengers affiliation with messages on Stormfront or one of the other places where racist contributions are popular?
If your screen is visible to the passengers around you, there is still no crime in the US for a nearby passenger taking a photo of the plain sight text on your screen.