Over the course of several Tweets, a vocal Black Lives Matter supporter named Imani Cezanne accused American Airlines of racial discrimination after a flight crew escorted her from the plane.
The alleged incident occurred last Friday. Cezanne says before her flight from Charlotte to Atlanta took off, she noticed that some non-English-speaking passengers were asked to move out of the exit row.
Cezanne says she asked a flight attendant why those people had to move. “If you don’t speak English you can’t sit in an exit row,” Cezanne says the attendant explained to her.
Cezanne says she thought the issue was resolved, and went back to talking to the woman sitting next to her about what had just happened.
While speaking with the woman next to me about my concernsI was *interrupted* by FA and asked "Are you going to be a problem?" @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
Why would she ask me that? Is that an appropriate way to speak to a customer who is calmly having a conversation with someone? @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
What about me seemed potentially problematic? I was seated, legs crossed, hands in lap. Using my "inside voice." @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
And that’s when, according to her, the situation went from bad to worse.
I respond with "Are you going to be a problem? Why would you ask me that?" Then storms off to get a manager. @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
The manager comes to escort me off of the plane. I ask why. She says "because my flight attendant feels threatened. @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
As she continued to Tweet her version of events, Cezanne attributed American Airlines’ decision to escort her from the plane as being racially motived.
Nothing about my voice, tone, body language etc. communicated "threatening." Other than, of course, this Black body. @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
So now I'm stuck in Charlotte. Banned from AA. And no, I do not have $400-$500 to get back home or to my destination today. @AmericanAir
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 25, 2016
Cezanne also said her being booted from a plane for being black is “how you can literally be walking away from an officer and be shot dead. Because he ‘felt threatened.”‘
American Airlines, for their part, did reach out to Cezanne via Twitter.
@imanicezanne Our crew is expected to always provide a friendly and professional service. Please follow and DM us your record locator.
— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) March 25, 2016
Cezanne said she “spoke with an @AmericanAir rep on the phone who says ‘”There is nothing we can do for you,”‘ adding that she was not offered a refund and eventually took a bus ride to Atlanta.
Speaking about the incident, American Airlines released the following statement:
An unruly passenger was removed from American Eagle Flight 5192, operated by PSA Airlines, from Charlotte to Atlanta due to failure to comply with crew member instructions. The passenger refused to exit aircraft when asked, so local law enforcement was called. We will work with the customer to resolve the issue. American Airlines values diversity and we do not discriminate for any reason.
Cezanne tweeted a picture of the shirt she says she was wearing when the incident occurred. Attempting to make a connection, the shirt she was wearing shows a list of names of black people who have been killed or assassinated by police or someone white.
What I was wearing when I was unnecessarily ejected from my flight because the FA felt "threatened." Coincidence? pic.twitter.com/j5BDNo3rKf
— Imani Cezanne (@imanicezanne) March 26, 2016
In a YouTube video posted just days after her dustup with American Airlines, Imani Cezanne is seen performing slam poetry about a previous altercation she had with the Transportation Security Administration.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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