So....
US Airways and American Airlines are actually WAY MORE AMERICAN than we ever knew.
Black American Airlines employees at Reagan National and Philadelphia International airports say they have been subjected to racial taunts and are routinely assigned unsafe equipment and the most difficult tasks.
The employees were among 80 minority workers who, through an attorney, have written to U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch seeking an investigation into their allegations against the airline.
“I was told by one manager to go back out to that plantation, go back out to the cotton field. They thought it was hilarious, but I didn’t think it was one bit funny,” said a woman who has worked as a counter and gate agent for more than 30 years at National, which occupies a site that once was a 1,000-acre plantation. “They even used the n-word.”
This is sick.
Where can African Americans go in this country to escape racism? To experience this level of constant mistreatment on the job is disturbing in every way. We all love to be tempted to think that America in 2015 doesn't look a lot like American in 1955, but then we learn these painful stories.
Here's another one from a senior employee of the company with over 30 years on the job.
“What sums it up is different standards for different employees, based on the color of your skin,” she said. “If a white employee did something they would sweep it under the rug, they would cover it up. If a black employee did something they would fire you.”
She said that on one occasion, during the US Airways era, black employees were encouraged to take charge of the traditionally white-run Christmas party, an elaborate event held at a nearby hotel.
During the planning, she said, “One of the managers was on the speakerphone using the n-word. It’s just appalling. I hate the word. ‘They just want to play that n----- music.’ Those were his exact words.”
While it appears that racism may very well be a permanent part of American life, we must still fight it and expose it every chance we get.
