Shame on you US Air

I read an article about a New Mexico football player DeShon Marman being arrested for “not following the orders of the pilot” last week. He was led off the plane and was arrested in San Francisco because he refused to pull up his pants when asked. His side of the story, he just left a funeral for a close friend, was that he said he would once he got to the seat because his hands were full with luggage. That didn’t go well with the airline employees who called to have him arrested for indecent exposure.

I am not a big fan of baggy low hung pants. However, it never bothered me that much. I mean it’s an expression of a young person, much like having shaved a head doesn’t make him a skinhead. I thought it was a bit unfair but didn’t think much of it, until today.

I saw in a news that the same airline allowed a white elder man board the plane in nothing much more than a thong bikini. As you can see in the picture above, it was less than an ordinary underwear. People complained, like some did about the young man in San Francisco, but the airline employees ignored the complains and let the passenger board the plane.

This made me a bit angry not only because of the unfair way the young man was treated but a tinge of racism involved. I believe that in both situation, there was a freedom of expression involved. To me, I would have objected much more to the person on the right with his thong bikini than a young man with a low slung pants. However, we should treat them equally when enforcing a policy of this type. Either don’t let them board or let them board, equally, without bias.

I do believe that the young man was targeted because he was an African American. I firmly believe that if a caucasian young man with the same outfit would not have been targeted nor arrested because of his outfit. I am not only blaming the airline, who is clearly at fault here with their two different reactions, but the society in general. There is a undertone of racism everywhere, based on looks only.

I do hope that there is a lawsuit, although I am not big fan of lawsuits, against the US Air so they admit their mistake and conduct a training for their entire staff on racism and bias on their policy. Meanwhile, US Air will be at the bottom of my choice when I decide to fly anywhere, my personal protest. Join me.