https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-26/american-airlines-leads-u-s-carriers-in-racial-bias-complaints
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41754457
Over the last 20 months, there have been 29 complaints of racial discrimination. Four among them have been cited as examples by the NAACP of discrimination under American Airlines. One of these four examples had happened to one of the NAACP state chapter presidents, who was removed from his seat after responding to discriminatory remarks by a couple of other white passengers. In another incident, a black passenger was moved to coach despite her first class ticket, whereas her friend -who was white- was allowed to stay in first class.
As a result of these incidents, NAACP has issued a “travel advisory,” warning African American passengers of the discrimination in question. NAACP representatives have been invited to American Airline’s headquarters in Texas to discuss these incidents.
I wouldn’t shrug off these accusations. American Airlines has a history of discrimination towards its passengers. American Airline’s History of discrimination makes me question why this airline has the most amount of discrimination complaints. I can’t be sure exactly why, but I would guess that many of these cases arise as a result of weak enforcement of American Airlines employees; they’re given too much authority over their flights. If American Airlines adopted better guidelines to ensure it’s employees don’t abuse their powers, we might have ourselves a solution to this problem.
Optional Questions:
How worrisome do you find these claims of discrimination?
Would you argue that American Airlines is a good representation of the state of racial affairs in America?
Why do you think American Airlines has a history of discrimination problems?
Does it attract discriminatory employees or does its corporate culture allow for these incidents to happen?
What could American Airlines do to reduce the amount of such incidents?
7 comments:
I find these claims of discrimination pretty worrisome, as American Airlines flies the least amount of domestic passengers out of Southwest, Delta, United, and American, yet they had the largest number of complaints of racial discrimination filed in the last 20 months out of those airlines. Although I do not know the full story behind every complaint, many of the airlines' employees' reactions seem very unreasonable for the magnitude of the situation, like the flight attendant who reported a black Muslim man to the authorities for wearing a hood. I definitely think that American Airlines' corporate culture is a large reason behind their excessive discrimination, as their employees do not seem to face many or any repercussions for their discriminatory actions. This likely sets a precedent that enables their other employees to feel more comfortable with being discriminatory, as they probably think that they can get away with it with few consequences.
I would consider these claims of discrimination worrisome because I wouldn't want to be discriminated against, so having it happen to others increases the risks of it happening to minorities. Me, being a minority,and others as well should make us pretty worrisome. I don't think it would attract discriminatory employees because American Airlines and/or other airlines should prevent employees from discriminating passengers by selectively hiring trustworthy employees. The process would be hard, but no one should deal with having to be discriminated against on a certain transportation that is used by many of us everyday.
I find these claims very worrisome because it proves that discrimination is still significant issue in today's society. I wouldn't say that this situation is a great representation of the current state of racial affairs in America but it can't be brushed off. In my estimation I assume that a large majority of minorities do not face direct discrimination while riding with American Airlines or else they would not ride with American Airlines in the first place. Certainly, discrimination has been less prevalent over the years but the American Airline incidents indicate that racial affairs in America are not as healthy as we think they are. I do agree with Erin that the corporate culture does not punish discriminatory action. I think this will inevitably change because I do not believe corporations can ignore minorities without hurting their businesses.
These claims of discrimination are worrisome, because it brings to light the racial issues that have been prevalent and largely ignored throughout society for a long time. These claims are somewhat representative of the current state of racial affairs in America. The current discrimination in America is not an active bias against minorities, but a more inherent, subconscious discrimination. Today, little to none surviving institutions have outwardly discriminatory policies, as they wouldn't survive economically or socially. However, as American Airlines demonstrates, institutions can, while not openly racist, have discriminatory issues. As Erin and Tommy have stated, it is not that American Airlines attracts discriminatory employees but rather the corporate culture that fails to take responsibility in punishing or reprimanding their employees. It seems that this is solely an internal problem, as it appears that the NAACP can't do much about it besides issue a travel advisory, since American Airlines is not an openly racist institution.
Discrimination is everywhere, and it is present in this airlines as well. It does not seem like the airplane workers are even trying to hide their discriminatory bias towards skin color. In this day and age where discrimination of all kinds is frowned upon, having this very ancient view on race is troubling. I agree with Connor's view that American Airlines is not doing much to control the workers. But, I believe there is also another factor concerning this problem. The airlines itself is hiring these people who are discriminatory. I do not believe it is just a problem of punishment or strictness as the employers specifically chose these people to attend the airplanes. If this problem does become more prevalent in the airlines, the government should review the internal structure of this airlines in order to ensure complete safety for every person.
I think these claims of discrimination are very worrisome, to say the least. Hearing claims like these in this day and age should be rare, but unfortunately discrimination and prejudice are prevalent forces in our society. These claims are definitely a bad reflection on American Airlines, and yes, do reflect badly on our country given our long history of discrimination. I sincerely hope these issues get looked into, and the causes of the multitude of incidents are found out. I think American Airlines should be much harsher in its employment decisions, and have a strict code of conduct that would result in an employee's firing if they break it. It's the 21st century, racism and discrimination should not be tolerated at all.
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