TURBULENCE

Southwest Flight Attendant Accused White Mom of Trafficking Black Daughter

“The whole thing is based on what I believe to be a racist assumption about a mixed-race family,” said the mother.

A white mom traveling on a Southwest Airlines flight with her black daughter was flagged as a “suspicious” potential trafficker in an episode that the mother has called racist. According to a police report, the attendant was suspicious because Mary MacCarthy and her 10-year-old daughter were the last to board the plane, asked passengers to move so they could sit together, then didn’t speak to each other during the flight. Two cops were waiting when they landed in Denver. But, after separating the pair to question them, they were let go. “The officer said, ‘We’re talking to you because you were reported to the pilot for suspicious behavior,’” MacCarthy said. “And it immediately occurred to me what was going on. This is the type of situation that mixed-race families and families of color face all the time while traveling.”

MacCarthy said they were taking an emergency flight to Denver after her brother died. In a statement, Southwest said it “regrets that this family reports anything less than a positive experience while traveling with us.”