FLYING TO MEXICO

 

As parents, we all wish the best for our children. Of course, when they are grown, we want them to be successful in all their endeavors. But it’s not all about their achievements. “Who” they are matters more than what they do for a living or how many possessions they have acquired.

My daughter, Marcy, seems to check all the boxes. She has a rewarding job and is a wonderful mother to two beautiful children. In addition, Marcy has many loyal friends she has stayed connected with for years.

One of my proudest moments happened recently. Marcy and her husband were flying to Mexico last week when she observed a young man with headphones standing in line for the toilet. He was traveling with his parents and had yet to hear the announcement that the passengers could not wait in line to use the bathroom due to new security requirements. The young man was an African American in his late teens. A white flight attendant approached him and demanded that he sit down, but he couldn’t hear her because of his headphones. She then grabbed him and called the Mexican police to meet them at the airport in Mexico to arrest him. My daughter witnessed this, spoke to his terrified mother, and asked if she could intervene because Marcy spoke Spanish. Upon arrival at the Mexican airport, Marcy spoke Spanish to the officers waiting at the gate and explained that the young man had headphones on and did not hear the flight attendant on the plane talking to him. The police immediately responded that it was a misunderstanding and released the young man.

When Marcy told me the story, I could not have been prouder of how she intervened to assist that family. It would have been easy to ignore the incident and think it was just another kid getting in trouble with the “law.”

I don’t know if he was targeted because of the color of his skin, but I suspect that was the case. Nevertheless, we are all responsible for standing up and speaking out against injustice. Our white privilege demands it.