As we all know by now, racism has absolutely no place in today’s society. The idea that anyone is better or worse because of their race or the color of their skin is archaic and nonsensical. Yet while the vast majority of us understand this, and will stand against racism wherever it rears its ugly head, there remain people yet to adequately evolve. It’s simply deplorable that there remains so much racism in the world today. No one should think they are superior to others just because they have a different skin color. For many, these events may go unnoticed, but for those who suffer racism it’s a constant presence in their daily life. Some forms of racism are, of course, more blatant than others — and, for that reason, all the more shocking.
This incident in this story is one such example. Fortunately, social media helps to bring this atrocious behavior to light, and people who are full of prejudice are publicly condemned. This is the story of Emmet who spoke out about a situation he experienced a couple of years ago. Emmet said that he was minding his own business, about to board a plane. As he was a first class passenger, he got in the queue with priority boarding. He was traveling to the Dominican Republic for his 37th birthday. However, behind him was a woman who did not believe that this man could fly first class.
Walker grew frustrated with the woman’s reaction and decided to share their conversation on his Facebook page: Her: Excuse me I believe you may be in the wrong place you need to let us through. This line is for priority boarding. Me: Priority meaning first class, correct? Her: Yes…now excuse me, they will call y’all after we board Me: *shove first class priority boarding pass in her face* You can relax ma’am I’m in the right spot, been here longer, so you can board after me Her: *still won’t let it go* He must be military or something, but we paid for our seats so he still should have to wait Me: Nope too big to ever be in anybody’s military. I’m just a n**** with money. (Everyone in line starts to clap) Emmet’s reply was not only supported by the passengers who were waiting to board, but by thousands of people who later liked and shared the post.
By the time Emmet landed at his vacation destination, his upsetting Facebook post had already started to go viral. There was no doubt that the woman’s actions were unacceptable, but Emmet began to regret his actions even so. He thought perhaps he’d made the wrong call in posting a photo of the woman on Facebook, even though her face is barely visible. The day after, he posted a video apologizing to the woman.
