Southwest employee accused of racism

Southwest Airlines is in the news again and it's not pretty, a mixed-race family was detained at the Denver airport after an employee of the airline complained of suspecting the mother-daughter duo of human trafficking. 

Mary MacCarthy who is white and her 10-year-old daughter Moira who is black flew from San Jose to Denver due to a death in family, upon arrival at the airport, they were detained at the jet bridge by a Southwest Employee and two police officers on alleged suspicion of human trafficking. MacCarthy said that such assumptions were racist and she and her daughter were traumatized by them. The police questioned MacCarthy and her daughter separately at which point she realized the situation. MacCarthy also said that such instances were common among mixed-race families traveling together. 

MacCarthy was not angered as much by the treatment of the police as much as was by the false assumption of the flight employee who reported her without even having a conversation with her. The Southwest employee said that they reported MacCarthy because the couple was the last to board the flight and she asked passengers to move so that she could sit with her daughter, they allegedly didn't talk during the journey. MacCarthy said this was because they were part of the last boarding group and the passengers didn't mind moving. Mixed-race families often face such suspicions by airline staff who are actually supposed to be trained in detecting human trafficking cases. MacCarthy has demanded an apology from the employee as well as the airline. 

Source: Denver Post