A Women’s March co-founder was kicked off of an American Airlines flight after an argument about seats with a gate attendant.
Tamika Mallory claimed that she had visited a kiosk at the airport to change her seat on a flight from Miami to New York. Her seat had been a middle seat, and she changed it to an aisle seat. However, when she got to the gate, she was issued a new ticket, with her seat once again in the middle.
Mallory claimed that, at that point, the gate worker got “nasty” and “disrespectful.”
But after the dispute with the gate agent, Mallory was surprised when the pilot came up to her to tell her that the gate worker had “nothing to do” with her seat change and that Mallory was the one being nasty and disrespectful.
While Mallory was able to board her flight and took her seat, when she was seated, her name was called over the loud speaker. When she got to the front of the plane, she was informed that she was being kicked off the flight.
The person she was traveling with, who remained seated throughout the exchange, was also kicked off the flight without explanation.
“Doesn’t matter how much we do and how hard we fight, white men are allowed to treat black women like s***,” she wrote on Twitter after the incident.
Mallory also noted that she had been in contact with other people at American Airlines, and they were on her side.
“Every @AmericanAir rep I’ve talked to told me the pilot mishandled the situation. He had no business getting involved in a seat dispute,” she wrote.
Mallory was also en route to attend the wedding of Al Sharpton‘s daughter, which she ultimately missed.
I was just removed from an .@americanairlines flight because of white make aggression. I will fight this until I die!
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
I was just removed from an .@americanairlines flight because of white make aggression. I will fight this until I die!
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
Doesn’t matter how much we do and how hard we fight, white men are allowed to treat black women like shit .@AmericanAir
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
Every @AmericanAir rep I’ve talked to told me the pilot mishandled the situation. He had no business getting involved in a seat dispute
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
The @AmericanAir pilot, before kicking me off the plane, asked me “are you gonna behave?” As if I’m not a grown woman worthy of respect…
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
I’m lucky I have a voice that’s listened to. But so many black women and girls don’t. And this is how we get treated. Every damn day.
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017