Several passengers were outraged after a sick black woman was allegedly forced to stay in the restroom during a flight on American Airlines.
According to reports by Daily Mail, a black woman began throwing up on a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago. Professor Martha Shelby, who teaches at University of Texas, said that members of the cabin crew locked the woman in the restroom and told her she couldn’t come out until the plane landed.
The crew also wrapped the woman’s luggage in plastic bags and treated it as if she had Ebola. The woman was taken off the plane by paramedics.
Shelby believed that the woman was treated in the manner because she was black. However, an American Airlines spokesperson said the passenger was never locked in the restroom and stayed inside voluntarily. The spokesperson also said that crew members thought the passenger had food poisoning, not Ebola.
The Ebola virus continues to provoke fear and confusion across the country. Due to the virus’ connection to West Africa, racial profiling has occurred in certain situation. Some ill-informed people have called for President Obama to prevent West Africans from entering the United States. President Obama has called for calm on hysteria and fear caused by the spread of the disease.
