What if?
What if Terrell Davis wasn’t an NFL Hall
of Fame player? What if he didn’t play in a Super Bowl? What if his name was
Terrell Jones or Terrell Thomaselli?
The point I am trying to make is, why does
it take an incident with a person who has a high profile to draw our attention?
There was an
incident last month on United Airlines in which Davis was the victim of
apparent racial discrimination.
The flight attendant in question has since
been terminated.
This is unacceptable, of course. It just
puts a bigger spotlight on an ongoing issue:
Airlines need to do a better job when it
comes to discrimination.
It’s systemic.
It shouldn’t take a high-profile incident
to raise awareness of the problem. We should be as equally upset over whether
it was Terrell Davis or Joe Davis. And ending the employment of the flight
attendant doesn’t solve the problem; frankly, it’s just a Band-Aid to cover a
bigger wound that is becoming more systemic. It’s just an olive branch of
resolution or satisfaction.
Be honest. Did you show as much interest
in the three black men who were apparently racially profiled
by American Airlines as you did in the Terrell Davis incident? Many of you
are probably saying to yourself right now, what three black men?
Exactly.
Can the airlines do more? Is more
diversity training needed? Perhaps. You can never get too much education. But
maybe this is less about diversity and more about human decency. Because this
problem isn’t just confined to people of color. There have been discrimination
claims against people of different nationalities, people who worship different
religions, and even those with a disability.
Flying is stressful enough; passengers
shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they’re going to encounter another
problem even before they step on the plane.
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