Jamie Reidy relays a surprising story about the not-so-friendly skies.
When driving in the afternoons, I like to listen to PMS: The Petros and Money Show on AM-570, Fox Sports LA. These guys know their sports, but they talk about way more than stats and studs. Hollywood, music, hole-in-the-wall sandwich shops… whatever the topic, Petros Papadakis and Matt “Money” Smith provide entertaining – if occasionally eardrum shattering – commentary.
Yesterday, though, the hosts took their insight to new heights. Coincidently, I’m sure, Petros was not present.
Bill Plaschke, an LA Times awarding-winning sports columnist and a fixture on ESPN’s “Around The Horn,” joined Money as a guest host. During the five o’clock hour (pick it up at the 4:32 mark), they recalled a conversation from a while ago regarding the effects of Southwest’s open seating policy.
J.A. Adande, an ESPN basketball writer and fun guy to have a drink with, had told Plaschke to pay close attention the next time he flew SWA: any vacant middle seat between two African-American males would remain vacant unless a white person was forced to sit there due to a completely full flight.
Thus warned, Plaschke kept a keen watch on his next Southwest flight. Sure enough, he witnessed this phenomenon himself.
But, then, the sportswriter sat between two black men. When they looked at him with surprise he said, “It didn’t work, did it guys?! It didn’t work!”
The gentlemen laughed and admitted that, yeah, African-American dudes love Southwest Airlines because they can always count on the extra room.
Curious, I did some Googling of the words “empty seat next to black men.” I found a two-year old New York Times’ Op-Ed written by noted author John Edgar Wideman. (I had not seen this opinion piece prior to titling this blog, but I guess there aren’t that many puns regarding seats.) “The Seat Not Taken” describes his regular experience on an Amtrak northeastern route.
It’s a survey I began not because I had some specific point to prove by gathering data to support it, but because I couldn’t avoid becoming aware of an obvious, disquieting truth. Almost invariably, after I have hustled aboard early and occupied one half of a vacant double seat in the usually crowded quiet car, the empty place next to me will remain empty for the entire trip.
I hardly ever take trains. But I’ve flown Southwest plenty on numerous occasions. Next time, I really hope I don’t witness that phenomenon unfold.
Have you ever seen this racism in action? Experienced it?
Photo by: PopCultureGeek.com
Substitute “between two African-American males” with “between two people” and this article would apply just as equally to a large portion of the population, especially introverted people (hello) and/or people with social anxiety (hello again). Then toss in the fact that most people despise sitting in the middle seat of an airplane (hello a third time) unless they’re travelling with a companion. The fact that I’m a white male and the two people surrounding the seat are black makes no difference to me; those two people could be two tiny 85-year old nuns and I still wouldn’t want to sit… Read more »
I don’t think the brush is too broad, it’s not a matter of people preferring the middle seat but whoa, black guy, never mind I’ll take this aisle seat in the empty row behind you. Rather the observation is that as the middle seats begin to fill, which middle seats are the last to be claimed? As I wrote, it’s a rather benign form of racism, one that is in all likelihood unconscious, and one that works to the benefit of the minority. I’d much rather have an empty seat next to me than a police escort from a jewelry… Read more »
Personally, I’ll go for empty rows or the aisle seat first, then the window seat, and lastly the middle seat. I avoid it like the plague.
I’m sure there are plenty of people who do avoid sitting between two African-Americans because of racist attitudes…but I wonder how often it’s racism and how often it’s just about not wanting the middle seat.
I’m curious…do you find a similar thing happening if it’s the aisle or window seat that’s free?
I just wanted to weigh in here and say that I don’t believe this is the entire story. There are three points that go a long way towards explaining this observed behavior. First, I can attest, as a white man, that whenever I board a crowded subway train and take an open seat, I will be the first one asked to give the seat up when a pregnant woman/old person/infirm individual shows up on the train. It doesn’t matter who else is on the train, of what I’m doing (unless there are a bunch of other white guys), I’m the… Read more »
Thaddeus. So, when you walk against traffic and don’t yield, people walk around you. You’re aware, aren’t you, that the alternative would be to walk over you?
Is this really news to anyone? Oh wait, it is if you are not a Black man. I have experienced this phenomenon my entire life. Whenever I ride any form of mass transit, the seat next to me will remain open unless the person is more infirm or potentially more threatening than I appear to be. On airplanes, unless seating is assigned, the seat next to me remains open. I have even tested the idea of walking down the street and not deviating from my flight plan. People walk around me and anyone I am walking with, even if I… Read more »
That happens to me all the time, regardless of dress. I just moved to mixed area in Jersey and whenever I take my brown babies to the park (3 times) the other(white) parents get their kids and either move or leave. My 4YO asked why that happened, I told him I don’t know what other people are thinking and we can’t worry about it, but you have the park all to yourself. Sometimes when people feel guilty about something, they fear Karma. Bottom line we are not going nowhere so keep not taking a seat or leaving for what ever… Read more »
I don’t expect to be flying solo any time soon, but if I do,and if it’s on SWA…. I’m 6’2″, north of 250. (Less in summer.)
I will look for that untaken seat, crank up my sound system with, say, Paula bar Giese and “Mille Regretz”
Got to have some fun in this life.
And I’ll be demonstrating I’m not racist, too.
A twofer.
Julie. Because sometimes there are real reasons instead of imputed racism. Speaking of SWA, they got sued some years ago for not being racist enough. A flight attendant, demonstrating their good cheer and trying to hurry up the seating, said on the speaker, “Catch a tiger by the toe, get a seat, we gotta go.” Some black passengers took offense at that, because, in earlier generations, “tiger” was not the word used. The FA was not old enough to know that and so …. I’m not sure if there was any go-away payout from SWA, but the point is, racism… Read more »
Yeah, me and a few of our friends distinctly remember our parents using the “n” word rather than tiger in a similar rhyme.
I can see how someone could take offence at that though. Especially if they’d been taunted by the original version in their youth.
Also, with respect to Julie’s comment, “He might try to grope me” isn’t a good or rational reason not to sit next to a black man. I don’t think black people are more likely to grope white people on planes.
Damn! Sorry, leia’s comment. Sorry julie.
I would say that depending on Leia’s experiences I can understand why she may feel that way. If she had some negative experience (like in her comment above) I think its understandable that she feels that way. I can agree that its ultimately not right. But I can understand it.
Different transportation mode: I sat down on the subway with a group of African-American boys on the other side of the ceiling-to-floor bar…I was minding my own business and sipping hot coffee….I could see out of the corner of my eye that they were watching me and the one closest to me was trying to sneak his left hand under his right arm towards me (he was trying to grope me in a carful of passengers)….I just kept the lid of hot coffee off (that was going to go into his face if he actually touched me!) and moved TWICE… Read more »
Leia, I’m not sure why you told this story.
I see this same phenomena on the train every day on my way to work. On the flip side- recently my son told me he only wants to sit next to the two black boys in his class. I asked him to find out why- 1. Are they his closest friends? No, they’re nice though. 2. Are they fun to work with in group work? Yes, but no more fun than anyone else. Well why? One boy shaves his head and the other has REALLY short hair. The class had a recurrent lice epidemic and my son wanted to avoid… Read more »
A little known consequence of Obama’s 2010 national emergency declaration over the H1N1 “swine flue” were fantastic hotel and travel discounts to Europe. Affordable prices made it possible for me to surprise my wife with a week in Paris to celebrate our 10 year marriage anniversary. By the May 6 departure date the pandemic was over and our flight was fully booked. We were surprised to learn that Air France has changed our reserved seats, and that we had been re-seated separately from each other. I was angry because I wanted to sit next to my wife on our 10… Read more »
That’s ridiculous. I smell lawyers, liability, and legal fees at the root of that. No matter, the result is the same and it’s wrong.
And in British Airways case Julie that is exactly what it took. A year or two ago a man (Marko Fisher I think his name was) got caught up in this sexist policy and he sued British Air. He won a cash award and got the policy ended on that airline and as a pretty nice F U he donated the majority of his award to a advocacy group that helps abused children. Wouldn’t it have been better if British Air had just not instituted the policy and donated the money themselves? And Anthony your experience is proof positives that… Read more »
I”m guessing that the lawyers and policies were put in place originally because the airlines got focused on avoiding any lawsuit possible. Instead they get new lawsuits. I figure it all comes down to money.
Sure that may have been their intent but in the face of the fact that there has never been a case of child abuse on an aircraft where did that intent come from? Its not like we’re talking about the TSA running rugshod in American airports looking out for terror attacks in the face of none ever happening (yes I agree that they have gone too far but at least there is terror attacks on planes have actually happened).
I think you know where it comes from. It’s a proactive response to irrational fear fed by hype in the media. It’s like the people warning me of “stranger danger” around my kids. I’m more concerned about them being hit by a car driven by an inattentive teen texting than I am about a stranger kidnapping them. Because when you look at the statistics for kidnapping, sexual assault, and physical assault it’s much more likely to be a friend or relative than a stranger. But how the hell can we function with the knowledge that grandpa Jack is more likely… Read more »
Potentially this will sound racist, but it’s the Internet so here goes blunt honesty. I don’t sit by black men often on public transportation in general because they tend to be taller and sit with their legs sprawled into my space. Also, younger urban black guys often listen to their music really loudly, and it drives me nuts. Similarly, on a plane, I think black men tend to be broader shouldered than men of other races, so why would I want to squeeze into the middle?
Maybe it sounds racist because it is? I mean, there are some slight black guys out there, and plenty of broad shouldered white guys out there (not to mention broad bellied people of every melanin and genital configuration). If you had said you avoided large people, without respect to race, that would be one thing. But that’s not what you wrote, is it? But hey, that’s okay. It’s not like you’re prejudging a group of people based on some immutable physical characteristic rather than their behavior. Anyway, are there still “urban” black guys out there with their ghetto blasters roaring?… Read more »
Skinny white girl here reporting that I, too, am a loud music offender!
Speech Language Pathologist here saying you all need to take better care of your hearing!
I’m wicked sensitive to sounds…so pretty much I’d glare at you the entire ride, Joanna. lol. I do not understand how people can stand the sound of music that loud. I tend to listen to my music on the quietest volume where I can still hear it.
If it helps, all those things happen here too, only its white people that do them. Wanting peace and quiet on your journey isn’t racist. I assume you’d avoid a white person similarly invading your space/causing noise pollution?
Most definitely. I guess what I really meant was that maybe some black men aren’t aware of the things that they’re doing that are the underlying reason I’m not sitting there. I’ll sit by skinny, quiet music, short black guys all day long. But I gotta say, that loud music is the worst and no, most people are not using good enough headphones to block the sound. Ugh.
So it’s not black guys per se, it’s larger guys (women too?) or people with loud music playing.
That means, I would presume, that given the choice between sitting next to me, who lost his iPod and is instead reading Debt: The First 5000 Years while taking care not to encroach on the seat next to me, or Joanna, who is rocking out a little too loudly to Jason Mraz, you’d choose the tall, dark, and quiet guy. Right?
I don’t fly Southwest, but I imagine if I did and had to take a middle seat I’d be looking at the exit row first, girth of my neighbors second, attractive women third (only because I’m married), and proximity to the front last. Granted, I wouldn’t go out of my way to sit between two black guys, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to sit between two white guys either.
This works on Metro North as well, particularly if I have the good sense to swap the jacket and tie with a Black Yankees ’35 vintage baseball cap and hoodie before boarding.
But don’t go encouraging people to subvert these more benign forms of unconscious racism that actually work in our favor. I need the leg room.
“But don’t go encouraging people to subvert these more benign forms of unconscious racism that actually work in our favor. I need the leg room.”
Ha! 😀