A US airline has been forced to give an apology to a mother who was travelling in one of their planes with a mixed-race son. The passenger was demanded to provide proof that she was indeed the mother of the African-American child. The White woman was mad for the main reason that the airline’s authorities insisted on more evidence even after she provided her baby’s passport. The passenger, a middle-aged white woman, Lindsay Gottlieb said that she was flying to Oakland from Denver, Colorado. Ms Gottlieb was travelling with her son, Jordan Martin, who is only one-year-old. During her flight, one of the airline’s officials requested for martin’s birth certificate.
Ms Gottlieb said that she supplied the birth certificate of her son instead because she had not carried her son’s birth certificate. Gottlieb says that the official told her that she could not board the flight since she had a different surname to that of her son. Ms Gottlieb is White, while the father of her son, who also happens to be her fiancé, is African American. Both Ms Gottlieb and Mr Patrick Martin, the child’s father, were present when the incident occurred. Ms Gottlieb gave birth to their son, Jordan, in May of last year. The one-year-old boy has reportedly travelled via airplanes for many times including on the Southwest Airlines. Gottlieb tweeted that she was appalled that after making over 50 flights with her son, she was told to provide proof of identity by ticket counter personnel. She adds that it was uncalled for since she had her son’s passport.
She added that her son has a different surname from her’s. However, Ms Gottlieb said that she suspected that the main reason why the airline personnel harassed her and her son was because her child was black. Gottlieb said that the questions asked by the airline officials were insensitive and demeaning. She has now called for the better training of the airline’s employees on customer service and support. Gottlieb also made claims that the airline’s employee asked to see a social media post that would prove that she was her son’s mother. Ms Gottlieb told reporters that she has the feeling that she must speak out about the issue as a white woman with a position of privilege. Southwest Airlines has stated that it had apologised to Ms Gottlieb and her immediate family and was carrying out investigations on the matter.
