It’s one thing to express a viewpoint. It’s quite another thing to harass a seatmate with unwanted conversation, especially on extremely sensitive topics in a confined space. I applaud Delta and other passengers onboard for stepping in to diffuse what could have been an even nastier situation onboard.
The “B”LM Battle On Delta
Demetria M. Poe was traveling from Minneapolis (MSP) to Washington, DC (DCA) on August 27, 2020. She was wearing a “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt and took her seat. Shortly thereafter, her seatmate appeared wearing a face mask with an American flag design. When the passenger saw Poe’s t-shirt, she traveled to the lavatory and returned wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” mask and matching lapel pin. She was White and Poe was Black.
She remained silent until the plane took off, then leaned over and started speaking to Poe.
“I support blue lives because I support our officers.”
Poe took the bait and argued that “blue lives” don’t exist and that such mantras are used to silence the plight of Black Americans.
The woman responded with additional musings including:
“Africans from the west sold the most slaves.”“The reason Blacks were 3/4th was because the south would have too many votes.”“Having Blacks in America has been the best thing for them because they can work their way up.”
Poe complained to USA Today:
“That woman was trying to entice me into an argument because there was no need for her to flip that mask in my presence. She didn’t do it for anyone else. It was as if she was making a statement and wanted me to know.”
Sorry, but that is her right, just like it is your right to wear the “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt. She had every right to wear a shirt that expressed solidarity with police officers.
But the woman crossed a line. A big line. Her badgering of Poe was totally unnecessary and totally unacceptable, especially on a plane.
Two White passengers stepped in and defended Poe. A flight attendant came over and offered Poe to re-seat the White woman. The flight attendant also said the woman would be banned from future Delta flights.
Delta Upgrades Her Return Trip
Poe flew home earlier this week and found that her seat had been upgraded to Comfort Plus (premium economy) and a gift bag was waiting for her It included a letter, notebook, pen, luggage tag, and a Delta-branded Black Lives Matter pin.
Now Poe promises to exclusively fly Delta going forward.
CONCLUSION
We are all entitled to our opinion, even onboard an airplane. But when you start arguing with your seatmate in a way that is intimidating and condescending, you cross a line. As far as I am concerned, the White woman crossed a line when she started badgering her seatmate.
This is a divided country in an election year. But that doesn’t excuse us of our duty to exercise common decency…and empathy. However you spell out BLM, remember that we will not make progress unless we seek to understand others, not just tell them why they are wrong.
images: Demetria M. Poe / Facebook
Obviously “All Lives Matters” is completely tone deaf and misses the point of BLM. But I also feel like BLM is failing to address a lot of injustice suffered by other skin tones of the darker variety. How about “Non-White Lives Matter”? That seems to strike the right balance to me.
Well done Delta. Kudos.
Joe – if only non-white lives matter you can drop Frederick Douglass, (Sir) Robert ‘Bob’ Marley, (President) Barack Hussein Obama, and about 60% of American Blacks who also have European (white) DNA. Even Marie Catherine Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans had European (white) DNA. Personally, I don’t think offending Marie is a wise idea.
@ AlohaDaveKennedy Yeah but most people consider them to be black so your point is moot.
Because right now, black lives are the ones being targeted the most.
Ok, good call. But why would you ban someone from future Delta flights for something like this? Yes, the “Blue lives matter” lady made people around her uncomfortable and maybe said things that offended her seatmate. I am not sure if you can interpret her “musings” as racist or rather just a certain viewpoint on history. However, a ban from future Delta flights because of being overly talkative and provoking discussion seems going a bit too far. The reseating should be warning enough.
Flight attendants don’t have the authority to ban a passenger, so I too wondered about that statement. This article doesn’t say whether that action ever occurred. I am waiting for Delta leadership to confirm whether that passenger was banned from their airline.
And I promise never to fly Delta, ever …
No one wants your broke racist presence on their flight anyways
I’m racist? What, from what I wrote, makes you jump tp that conclusion? Actually I’m black, but I certainly do not support violent organizations like BLM or Antifa. The fact that they actually have DELTA/BLM pins (and most certainly nothing else), says a lot about their own race bias.
you’re a racist
I think anybody who supports BLM would also support the plight of marginalized people everywhere, however BLM was born out of police violence against Black Americans specifically.
Delta has lots of lapel pins. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable with a “Congratulations America,” or a “We Love to Fly and it Shows.” I do suspect; however, that you probably wouldn’t want the “Official Airline of the Democratic National Convention” pin that was issued when the ’88 DNC was in Atlanta.
Can you prove to us you are black? One of the tactics of right wing trolls online to try and discredit a progressive movement is to pretend to belong to a marginalized group and offer an opposing viewpoint.
Yes, I’m black young man from South Africa and I don’t need to prove it to you (you wouldnt’t believe it anyway). I was an orphan who was adopted by a white south-african family, who has taken good care of me ever since I was an infant. You on the other hand are supporters of a voilent pack of street-rats who take advantage of a national crisis which prevents the law from punishing unquestionable criminal acts of violence and plundering and down right murder. BLM and Antifa are nothing but psychotic troublemakers who do not care about anything but their own perverted and deviant beliefs that makes them think you can do whatever the f… they want to any innocent bystander that happens to cross your path.
Common decency left our American society long ago, unfortunately.
P.S. Sometime around the advent of social media.
The issue begins with the woman changing into the Blue Lives Matter short and mask. Stating that it is her right to wear that outfit misses the mark. Why did she not wear that shirt/mask in the airport?
The question is whether her outfit change was akin to fighting words and thus not protected speech. Her follow up actions certainly speak to that possibility. Saying it was her every right to wear that shirt ignores her intent and the circumstance.
Imagine a reverse situation. A person with a NYPD shirt is sitting in a seat. A fellow neighbor passenger sees the shirt and changes into a Defund The Police shirt. Issue with a shirt change then? What happens if the shirt says Police Kill?
Matt:
I enjoy your work, but with some of this I disagree.
Politics and messaging have no place on an airplane. It’s a closed environment where solution options are minimal and driven by governmental regulation and company policy. I know all of this intimately because I am a flight attendant.
I agree with the diffusion of a bad situation. I agree that the white passenger had no right to goad the black woman into a confrontation. I agree with Delta’s action in upgrading carriage for the aggrieved.
However, I do not agree that you are completely allowed to have an opinion on an airliner, as exemplified by the denial of any items that display profanity. Better said, have the opinion but don’t wear it like a badge: keep it to yourself unless someone can engage you civilly and have a productive discussion in a better situation. To attempt to have that in a closed environment is a recipe for failure. So, by extension, this would include having such messages visible as “Black Lives Matter”, which is more than it appears and a very complicated subject – that which includes the militant and more sinister aspects of it, such as their admitted Marxist leadership.
Conversely, I do not support nor condone those who would put the opposite message in your face without your permission. Passengers may have the right to socialize, but badgering or confrontational behavior is a no-no. As a crew member, I have an obligation to the company and passengers to maintain a safe environment, that which includes the authority for removal of offensive material or persons. I would have done the same for Ms. Poe as the Delta crew had or, quite possibly if unable to resolve any seat change or other correction, asked for the removal of Ms. Blue Lives Matter.
Where I vehemently disagree with is the company branding of the BLM pin given Ms. Poe. I get that Delta is based in Atlanta, a city with a very large black population. And while it may be expedient for Delta, and now – American – to have such a pin, they contribute to the growing divide between the vocal minority and the silent majority. As an employee who disagrees with such messaging, I am permitted my opinion but cannot actively express it as it flies in the face of company policy. BTW I do not wear or have any ‘rainbow-themed’ items as I disagree similarly with some of their messaging: while I support my colleagues who identify themselves as such, I do not support any company- or union-branded items and will not wear them. Companies who brand themselves alongside BLM or any perceived social justice issue are contributing to division by placation of a militant and very violent few, virtue-signaling at its worst.
My background for would-be haters: I was a brown kid(Hawaiian-Chinese descent) in a mixed but predominantly white suburban neighborhood. I was raised in the Roman Catholic faith but do not practice it. I am a registered Independent politically and have voted for qualified members from any political party. For almost fifteen years I lived in a better section of an inner city stateside(Reading, PA) and left before it went really south. I currently live in a mixed but predominantly black suburban neighborhood. I have not personally known poverty but lived among those impoverished while I was in that urban environment. There was violence in the city, mostly confined to the east side of town which was populated by the poorest of all colors. The large companies in town supported efforts to help those in need, and there were other small groups that pitched in as well. But it was done collectively, without the need for one group to try to shout down the other. And there was no rioting, because it was simply not allowed. The police were supported as a necessary force for protection against a greater evil.
I respect the rights of the others to their opinions and beliefs, and believe I have been for the most part afforded the same. However, I will not condone any misbehavior aboard my aircraft, as it is within the scope of my job and associated authority to correct and/or remove it(14CFR Part 121). And company branding of any social justice messaging when that message is not completely understood is just plain stupid.
Yours Sincerely,
A Flight Attendant