Would you applaud too?
A 50- something year old white woman arrived at her seat on a crowded flight and immediately didn’t want the seat. The seat was next to a black man. Disgusted, the woman immediately summoned the flight attendant and demanded a new seat. The woman said “I cannot sit here next to this black man.” The fight attendant said “Let me see if I can find another seat.” After checking, the flight attendant returned and stated “Ma’am, there are no more seats in economy, but I will check with the captain and see if there is something in first class.
“About 10 minutes went by and the flight attendant returned and stated “The captain has confirmed that there are no more seats in economy, but there is one in first class. It is our company policy to never move a person from economy to first class, but being that it would be some sort of scandal to force a person to sit next to an UNPLEASANT person, the captain agreed to make the switch to first class.” Before the woman could say anything, the attendant gestured to the black man and said, “Therefore sir, if you would so kindly retrieve your personal items, we would like to move you to the comfort of first class as the captain doesn’t want you to sit next to an unpleasant person.”
Passengers in the seats nearby began to applause while some gave a standing ovation…………..SHARE THIS IF YOU AGAINST RACISM!
Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150644594373994&set=a.147851133993.111996.89278513993&type=1&theater
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Wow, this flight attendant was really righteous and brave to fight the bully. The white woman thought it was acceptable to refuse to sit next to a coloured person because she was the customer. She probably didn’t realise discrimination against another race is not a right of a consumer.
We are living in the 21st century and it is not like 30 years when people were really isolated from each other because the means of transport was a limitation to traveling and there was no internet. As we are more exposed to the rest of the world, we should know we are not the only one, we have to learn to be more tolerant and accepting. We may be different in colour, culture, heritage, etc., but all of us want to be respected.
The black man didn’t deserve to be treated by the white woman like that, it was very hurtful. However, what the flight attendant did was a very good way to teach the white woman a lesson. No one deserved to be humiliated like how the white woman did to the black passenger.
Hatred and conflict are often rooted in differences between people of different races and religions. We all need to respect people of different races as well as people of different faiths and religions. We need to unite by recognizing our common desire and need for a harmonious society, live our lives in peace and harmony. Regardless of our race or religion there should not be any discrimination and prejudice.
Its sad that just because that man is black ,the white lady refused to sit with the blackman on the flight. Not a good example to the younger generation.
Be the change that you want to see in the world…quoted Mahatma Gandhi.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing ,May all religions and all faiths lives peaceful and harmony.
It is wrong to discriminate others because of colours, religion and belief. All living beings are the same, all of us deserve to have the same rights and freedom. No one is greater than the other. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
Prejudice, discrimination, wrong views etc are prevalent in all aspects of society and the world.
With this example of what is not correct, may such discrimination be eliminated especially on the ban on Dorje Shugden propitiation.
There is also a similar video that I have watched a few times on Youtube. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxJgZwtJHg8. Wait…now that I think of it, it might be the same story. The difference is just that the video I shared just now was being played by actors because they do not have the real footage. Why didn’t I think of that?
Anyways, it’s really sad that there are people outside in the world that are actually that racist. A lot of people always judge people by their skin colour which is not correct at all. Everyone has different personalities, just because Africans, Indians, Jamaicans, Nepali and etc have darker skin colour does not mean that they are necessarily bad people. There are also plenty of of white people who are bad too.
Why is skin colour such a big deal. As Buddhists, we believe in Karma and reincarnation. We might and might not be humans in our future lives depending on our Karma, then why are we so hooked up with what other people’s skin colour is? Besides the outer look is not important, what is truly important is the inside.
偏見和種族主義不應該被助長的。我們需要生活在一個可接受對方，每個人，無論他們的地位，種族的世界。我贊賞機長和乘務員決定把乘客移動到 头等舱的决定。希望這老婦人能開始學會接受不同種族的人。
The captain of the plane and the flight attendant were very intelligent. I will applaud too if I was there. Beautifully handled.
In a country where they are multi nationals or races, we must respect one another. After all, we are just tiny grains of sand on the open beach of samsara.
Incidents like really make me wish that may more people truly come close and understand the buddha’s teachings who are vast and profound. To know the truth of our reality and existence. That no matter what colour our skin, gender, class we are all of it can change in an instant. That this body or skin we inhabit, we have to discard it at some point.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this wonderful story. I would definitely applaud! We are all the same. We are all humans. We are all made up of skeletons and bones. The only difference is the colour of the skin. You are black, I am yellow.. it doesn’t matter. We are all still humans living on this planet earth.
That women did not even know this man and judged him just by the colour of the skin. She is definitely the unpleasant one, not the man. Beneath the skin, we are all equally the same. Racism is still something that’s lingering in our society and being cultivated from each community.
We should all learn how to respect one another and see everyone as a human being, not based on one’s colour.
I love this story.
The Captain for his courageous act and wisdom, backed by his understanding crew should be greatly applauded and praised to discourage such behaviour. All of them deserved a “Standing ovation” on their wisdomised action! Despite widespread legal protection, Racism is still very common in Europe, especially in schools. Like in this case, racial discrimination can result from an individual’s unconscious behaviour because of the consequences of a “discriminatory” decision/behaviour made. The development of beliefs and attitudes is a complex process, usually from young age. People are strongly influenced by families, peers as well as cultures. Th World is filled with colours and shades, but as said, underneath the frail cloak of colour is a person like you and me, someone who feels, loves and cares! PLEASE COME DOWN TO EARTH OF WHAT WE ARE.
Prejudice and racism shouldn’t be tolerated. We need to live in a world that is accepting of each other and everyone no matter their status, appearance, sexuality or gender. I am not sure if i would have applaud for that moment because on one hand I do not like to publicly humiliate someone but on the other I respect the captain and flight attendants decision to move the passenger to first class in order to teach the old woman a lesson. I really hope if this were a true story that the lady begins to learn to accept different races.
The captain/flight company’s reaction to the woman has actually give a big blow to her. One’s skin color or ethnic background does not make one an “unpleasant” or “unwelcome” person, but our bias on racial/ethnic differences does!
Racism is just a small part of the picture… there are many forms of discrimination that cause so much suffering to others, go unnoticed just because those discriminated are small in number.
In Malaysia itself, discrimination is approved by law, the existence of Bumiputera is the prove of that.
Some people, their intellectual level is just that much. Since we can’t really change what how these people react, things will change for the better based on how we deal with difficult situations such as this… just like how the flight attendant and captain deal with this situation.
I’m highly against people who are racist, especially those who are racist and rude. Our blood are all red, just the skins that are different in colour, we are all humans as well. Why do we have to be so racist and hurt others’ feelings? If I were in that plane, I would have definitely applauded to this caring woman.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article with us. I would applaud to the brave “captain” and flight attendant.
Racism will bring disharmony to the society . Most of the time, the victims of racism will be the minority group. It caused them unable to obtain what they should have like the others. For instance, their education rights , opportunity to become government servant etc will be treated unequally . Thus, they will have the feeling of dissactisfaction toward the majotiry group in the society which eventually might caused the incident of races confrontation occur.Hence,we should treat the others equally without any favourism, in order to promote hormany in the society.
Although the story is fake as confirmed by Snopes to be a legend, this story shows how rampant racism is. People are brought up in a society where being racist is frowned upon but okay. I think that people should seriously grow up because there is no place in this world for discrimination of someone just because they look a little different from you. There is no benefit to being racist other than self-satisfaction but is it self satisfaction if everyone sees you as a bad person afterwords? Thus, racism is a very necessary phenomena in this so called “Modern” world.
Now that is what I call good customer service! 🙂 On a more serious note, racism is one of the sources of disharmony. I wish everyone could see that beneath our skin (black, white, yellow, purple or green!), the colour of the blood that course through our veins are red. There is NO difference at all. Thank you for the wonderful post, Rinpoche. And yes, I would have given the flight attendant a standing ovation to show that I am against racism.
Racist people disgust me. I wish people would not be like that. I am glad that the dark skinned man got moved away from the white women. She deserved to be treated that way. I was pissed when i read about this till the end. When i got till the end there was a huge smile on my face.
This horrible person is so stupid. I hate racists and they have no respect for others so they should not get any respect. So this UNPLEASANT women did not deserve to go anywhere. Thank you for sharing Rinpoche
This is really a brilliant answer and actions done .we are all the same, nobody is above another.we need to learn mutual respect.
Wow, thanks Rinpoche for sharing…
Racism is keep alive around us, may we gain more Wisdom to have a equanimity mind towards all sentient beings…
Dear Rinpoche, I would also applause to the man because even though he heard what the unpleasant lady said he still didn’t try to fight back. And if your are still racist to people, you might just get beat up badly. Besides, who likes a racist person.
Beautiful. I laughed out loud when it is the man who is going to get a nice sit instead of this woman. The man pay for the sit too. It is the woman’s problem if she cannot sit besides the man. The lesson of this incident is we must not encourage this kind behaviour of looking down on other based on their skin color. If one always makes other an enemy one will have enemies no matter where you go in life.
This post of all posts was raw and hard for me personally to respond to not because I dont want to but because after so many years it is still raw reminder.
Thank you for this beautiful post not because it had a happy ending or that it had the best result for the black man (sometimes this is not always the case) but the most powerful teaching is that there are rare and special people that would protect and care for others (and this is very rare indeed).
I can imagine and feel how this is from my own experience that even though the outer wounds heal the inner ones can still feel raw and unflinching like it was just yesterday.
I would happily stand up in a heart-beat for any prejudice in all its forms but sometimes when someone else takes time to care and stand up for you that is beyond words.
Thank you LC
“Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. education and free discussion are the antidotes of both.”
Thomas Jefferson
Hahahaha… YES I WOULD HAVE APPLAUDED. I’m not sure if this story is actually TRUE but I am very SURE that racism still exist in today’s 21st century! And it’s disgusting and it stems from the way we were taught and brought up since young! And up until today it is still around, so it’s no surprise that such unpleasant people do exist on this planet. That is why it is so important to spread goodness and dharma… doesn’t matter what Dharma, be it Christian Dharma, Buddha Dharma, Muslim Dharma, Newage etc etc… as long as it’s “good” Dharma and not a twisted one where they teach you that eating with another person of a different “religion” is considered polluting oneself/impure!
Yes there are some religion or weird fanatical humans who put that kind of thoughts in to another silly human mind and they actually go along with it! When I hear that, it turns me right off to even having any respect for their religion and them. So right Dharma is very important… right view… otherwise might end up like the Jim Jones children drinking Kool-Aid :S
Well, it’s perfectly and beautifully handled against such situation 🙂
I agree with Henry that racism is very alive today. It is up to each and every one of us to eradicate this kind of prejudice from the colour of a person’s skin and also the outer image.
The beauty of the person is not the outer cover but the essence of his thoughts, deeds and show of respect, compassion and love to all things around him or her and living in the space with him or her.
I really appreciate the act of the Captain and crew of this flight.
From this blog post may we learn to be humble and respect all.
At first glance, we should be very happy to appraise for what had happened but deep down, it struck me deeply too. You see, sometimes we, or should I just say ‘ me’, will have encountered situation whereby surrounded with people who have different skin colour. I might not have voiced it up (I dare not) but somehow (deep down) I kind of having those uneasiness feeling. Hopefully through times, may I and all sentient being will come to a state to abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.
By the colour of your skin……Racism is rampant. But it is cultivated and learned from one’s own community, friends, relatives and family. When we were young,to begin with, we most probably didn’t have any feeling of strangeness in the company of people of another race.But we quickly learned, from our elders and our friends and community, all these prejudices.
What is learned can be unlearned, especially when it’s so negative in impact and brings only suffering.
It is a crying shame really. Colour is only skin deep. Beneath the skin, we are the same ugly mess.
Yes, I would applaud the ‘brave’ and kind act of the captain and his crew. Courage on the side of right in the name of humanity is always laudable.
Racism is very much alive today. I would applaud to such a humane, kind and compassionate act by the flight attendant, the captain and the crew.