A woman alleges she got a “racist woman” kicked off her United Airlines flight from Charleston to Denver after looking over her shoulder and snapping a picture of her iPhone as she was “rage texting” about her black seatmate. I don’t buy the story. But assuming it is true, it does present a dilemma. Should your text messages, if someone decides to read them, be fair game to get you removed from a flight?
Claim: Pilot Kicks Off First Class Passenger After Seeing Her Racist Text Messages
Originally posted on Reddit, a woman found herself seated next to a combative seatmate on a United flight from Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) to Denver (DEN).The moderators at Reddit are even worse than the FlyerTalk moderators in terms of micromanaging content, but here’s what was posted (thanks to Google cache):
On a flight from Charleston to DEN. It was very delayed and we are finally able to board. A woman was very rude to me, called my family “eclectic” and was just all around rude. My family and I end up getting upgraded and I sit behind her. I can see she is rage texting so I look over and this is what I see. I notified the flight attendants and the captain determined he did not want her on the flight. We ended up turning around and she was escorted off the plane by the two gate agents with police waiting for her. Picture of the texts.suggests that the white woman flipped her off (“Before she sat down in her first class seat…she put her bag up, looked me dead in the face and flipped me off”) but if that is the case, the black woman removed that part of her story from her Reddit post before moderators removed the post altogetherI find it hard to believe this occurred not because I deny the existence of racism or somehow doubt that people rage text. Rather, I question whether this happened because it does not add up…why would a woman simply flip off her seatmate, regardless of color? And if that occurred, why was it removed from the story? Why was there no flight number or date? Reddit is so full of made-up stories that this just seems like another one meant to stir people up. Plus, the fingers look like they could be black to me…maybe it was the woman herself who wrote these comments…it’s not like that would be something new to trigger outrage…
Even so, I think it presents an interesting–and broadly applicable–issue for our consideration. If this happened, then should someone be thrown off a plane for what they are silently texting to one another?I do not think we have any expectation of privacy onboard a plane, except in the lavatory. Furthermore, I think that if you are texting out in the open (like while seated in an airplane cabin) and your texts are visible to those around you, there should be no indignation when people read them. It’s for that reason I do not complete certain sensitive work on airplanes…there is no privacy that can be guaranteed even with a privacy screen over your monitor.But I don’t think someone should have been thrown off for being a racist. It’s like some of the hateful and counterproductive comments left on this blog…I don’t like them nor do I support them, but I leave them because they do reflect a certain reality that exists around us. We cannot ignore it or pretend it does not exist. This wasn’t even a teaching moment…what do you say to a comment like that? But it is important to note we live in the world we live in, not the world we want.And yet I don’t think people should have to go through an ideological purity test to board an airplane. Yes, racism is a mental disorder, but if we are going to start judging capacity to fly based on mental status, then maybe the psychiatric support dog people should also be left behind (not making a direct comparison, mind you…).
I condemn racism and the racists who perpetuate an ignorant and offensive view of their fellow man. I also don’t think you have a reason to be upset if someone reads your text messages over your shoulder on an airplane. Even so, I’d stop short of removing a passenger for what they text, unless they are talking about setting off a bomb or going postal…