Black Woman Traveling With 4-Year-Old White Adoptive Sister Reported as Possible Child Trafficker by Frontier Airlines

Boooooy, when I tell you being black in America means never knowing what everyday and routine things you do that make you appear suspicious to someone.

At that moment a rando happens to you and you realize that something doesn’t look right Black woman traveling on a plane with a white child when someone thinks you are a child trafficker and reports you to the flight crew.

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ABC 7 Denver reports that 21-year-old Lakeyjanay Bailey, who is black, traveled with Frontier Airlines from Denver, Colorado to Fort Worth, Texas with her 4-year-old adoptive sister, Olivia, who is white. As far as Bailey knew, everything went well until the plane landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the two travelers were stopped at the gate by police officers.

From ABC:

“There were two cops and they came up to me and said, ‘Is it okay if we talk to you?'” Bailey said.

One officer asked Olivia “if she knows me and what I am to her, and he asked what my mother is to her.” A number of other questions would follow.

According to an incident report from DFW’s Public Safety Division, the officers responded to a request from Frontier Airlines to law enforcement to meet them at the gate.

According to Bailey, officers spoke to her mother and a social worker to confirm certain information. They then followed the couple to baggage claim before speaking to the person who was collecting them.

“The whole time they talked to us, people were staring at us, whispering and all,” Bailey said.

According to the incident report, Frontier Airlines called on police to investigate the matter after a passenger on the plane became concerned about a possible human trafficking incident involving a woman born in 2001 traveling with a woman born in 2017.

The story goes on

Riiiiight, it was the age difference that made the black woman seem suspicious. Perhaps it would have made more sense for the * controlled * 4 year old to travel without a * controlled * adult.

The airline appears to be working hard to keep the race as separate from the topic as possible, going as far as to tell ABC in a statement, “Race played no part in the actions of the flight crew who followed the established protocols.”

“During the flight, a concern was raised by another passenger who was sitting near the woman and child and suspected of being trafficked,” the statement said. “This passenger contacted the flight crew with these concerns and then wrote a written report during the flight to document their observations. The master was notified and felt obliged to report the matter. Air travel is one of the most common means of human trafficking. “

Okay, but do you know what “one of the most common” reasons black people get stopped by the authorities is because they simply exist near whiteness? Racism.

Listen, even if the airline was just following protocol, understand that it is immensely frustrating for blacks involved in situations like this to watch the obvious being downplayed in order to respect the feelings of everyone but yours. No one automatically assumes child trafficking when they see an adult woman and a child of the same race.

Bailey said she doesn’t even think a white woman traveling with a black child would be treated the same way.

“If the roles were changed and it was a white person getting off the plane with a black person like a black kid, I would feel like things would be different,” she told ABC.

It is also true that many people fail to understand the fear, humiliation, and resentment blacks feel when they are persecuted by authorities for doing nothing other than minding their own business. Why was it necessary to continue following Bailey and questioning her ride after reviewing all of the information she had already given authorities?

Anyway, according to ABC, Bailey and her family are considering filing a lawsuit against the airline.

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