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Perhaps because I am still grappling with the last stages of a brutal flu, I was slow to get excited about my trip to DC. I'm not a fan of big crowds and usually prefer the eagle's eye vantage point I get from watching the biggest spectacles on television. Still, as a native Washingtonian with a mom who grew up in segregation and took part in the Civil Rights protests, I knew I had to get here to soak in the energy of our nation's renewed hope.
I arrived at LAX last Thursday night ready to hop on the red-eye to Dulles. What I hadn't anticipated was the instant energy and good feeling I found all around me as I approached the check in counter. It seems that almost all of my fellow travelers were headed to DC to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration.
The plane was packed with people of all ages, sizes and colors. All smiles and chattering about how excited they were to be heading to our nation's capital. The next thing that struck me, and filled me with a sense of pride was that First Class was filled with other people who looked just like me. ...
Addicted to comfort, and very fortunate, I make it a point to fly in the highest premium class I can afford. For me it's worth it. Almost without exception, I am one of two or the only black traveler in First Class particularly on international flights.
I don't pay attention to it anymore, but during my initial journeys I noticed that many times white flight attendants were particularly curious about me and at times felt comfortable addressing me by first name while addressing other fliers by Mr. or Mrs. so-and-so. It became a little game for me.
If I was offered the respect accorded everyone else, then I would automatically ask the attendant to, "please, just call me Carmen." But if they started out calling me by my first name, while calling everyone else by their surname, then I would remind them that it's, " Mrs. ___."
As I said, I really don't care anymore. I'm past it. But I was so happy to see a First Class section filled with successful, affluent, professional people of color. Much like the Obama's themselves.
Comments: (20)
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By: regfar on 1/19/2009 8:06PM
I know exactly how you feel. I travel alot for my job and always notice the few people of color on the plane let alone first class. Much to my delight of the fourteen first class seats, ten were filled with poeple that looked like me. I know it's something so small yet I was so thrilled nonetheless. It's the same euphoric feeling I get whenever I attend Essence Music Festival; just a thrill to be amongst my people in such positivity.
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By: Matt on 1/22/2009 3:59AM
Yes, because that makes such a difference.... skin color...Let it go. Grow up already. Everyone is sick of it. People say they dont want to be sterotyped , and yet its ALWAYS black,black,black.
Only when it benefits you.
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By: jeff on 2/14/2009 6:48PM
How did 3 million of those folks make it to Washington in one day when it was freezing when 200,000 couldn't get out of New Orleans with a 4 day notice?
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By: Angela on 1/24/2009 9:18AM
Um, were all the "similar faces" in first class traveling for free, or did they have to purchase tickets? The reason I ask is this: Black people were welcome to buy first class plane tickets BEFORE President Obama was elected, so the lack of "similar faces" cannot be named a racial issue, nor can electing a Black President be credited for Blacks now being allowed to purchase airline tickets in any class.
As for being called by your given name, it happens to me, too, and I'm White. Pale White, at that. I also get occasional sweeties, hons, sugars, etc. Sometimes I just let it go, realizing the speaker is ignorant of common courtesy, as evidenced by his/her behavior. At other times, I respond in kind, but trying not to be angry or hateful. So, again, being called by your first name is not necessarily an example of disrespect due to race, but an example of the poor etiquette and lack of respect Americans have for one another, period. If a complaint is to be made, it would almost have to address the casual (vs professional) treatment toward women who are unaccompanied by a man.
Finally, let me say I don't believe you when you say you really don't care anymore. Perhaps you and I have reached a point of maturity where we will not give our emotional time to others who are ignorant; but yes, you and I both know when we are being disrespected, patronized or given the brushoff, for whatever reason. After it happens so many times, we accept it, move on, and feel just a bit let down for the civility and courtesy our society has lost.
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By: advn2rgirl on 1/26/2009 4:15AM
What the previous commenters may not realize is that, for most of American history, blacks were not accorded the courtesy of being addressed as adults with the honorific "Mr." or "Mrs." before their names. Blacks were "Susan" or "John" like children while white counterparts, in common speech, in the newspapers, and on radio and TV were always "Miz Johnson" or "Mr. Smith." Even at the most familiar, they were "Miss Anne" but never just "Anne."
Whites were allowed to assume terms of familiarity with any black, even a paying customer who made more than they, but a black person, even an adult, who didn't address a white child with a term of respect, was in danger of physical harm or social sanction.
So when some person I'm paying to help make my flight more comfortable addresses me like I'm their child or close personal friend, I'm going to insist that she call me "Ms. Passenger" and I will call her "Ms. Flight Attendant" and we'll all get along professionally.
(Oh, and by the way, I have NEVER been in first class without SOMEONE asking me, either directly or indirectly, how I came to be up there. Maybe it's just because I look young, but I suspect that's not it, because there have always been young white people in 1st class, too, and nobody asks them about their itinerary.)
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By: ruth on 1/26/2009 5:23PM
i've been flying first class for 25 years--from back in the day when you had to dress up to fly. it is one of the perks the Writers Guild negotiated long ago. The lack of respect and attention from various airline personnel to women of any color traveling alone always amazed me. Often I have remarked, "It's Ms. Robinson, not Mrs" because they assumed that I was flying on a husband's dime, not my own professional accomplishments. Same in restaurants when you are eating alone..don't expect to automatically get a great table if you are a woman alone. you have to suggest that the table is not acceptable. When I was young it was a battle I fought, 25 years later I choose them more carefully, but the back of my neck still crawls when faced with assumptions about my status or my color or my money. Believe me, it still happens regularly
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By: biohaz0325 on 1/27/2009 10:30AM
UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Blacks in first class.......?????WTF???
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By: FrequentFlyer on 3/27/2009 11:26PM
WooHoo to you Angela! I second your remarks! I am so tired of hearing all this hoopla about how its changing now for people of color..... I am white, if you haven't figured it out yet, and have never thought twice about a black person being any different than myself. My best girlfriend is Black, and I have never heard her say anything about being treated different than any white people. In fact, she has made the statement, its all in how you were raised. So if any people of color still have grudges, thinking white people are trying to make a separation between the races, think again. Thats old news, and generations past. None of the "White" people I know, thought to elect Barrak Obama, just because he was black..... I think its always who would be the best person for the job. To cut to the chase, I am sick of Oprah also, always referring to the new Presidency or Barrak holding office as: "Our People". If we were ever to use that term, separating ourselves as whites, calling ourselves "Our People", we would be in trouble for being racist, and now that Barrak Obama is in the Presidency, the People of Color:), have seperated themselves once again, from the whites, as if there is a "Gain" for them to have over whites. Sorry to say, but my Black friends have even acknowledged this. They saw no seperation before, and see how this is being proclaimed to all the whites. Stop this separation Oprah, we are all in this together, whether its "your people" or mine.
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By: David on 1/31/2009 8:36PM
And as soon as you say "It's MRS blah blah blah" you become the "B" in 4A. Trust me, I know. It will be "your highess needs another giner ale, we are out arent we? ( wink wink hide the giner ale)
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By: Katheine on 2/01/2009 9:38AM
Are you kidding me? "Our People?" I am an American. Am I not one of "your people?' One of two things founded this article-you must feel it is in your best interest to keep segregation alive or you suffer from paranoia: "a psychosis characterized by systematized delusions of persecution; excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others." Did it ever occur to you that the entire plane is filled with more whites than any other race. It is just a matter of fact that the majority of population in the United States are caucasian. And blacks are just one of many minorities that are counted/included as Americans-"all the people."
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