*Demetria Poe, a Black woman from Minnesota, says she’ll only fly Delta Air Lines from now after they went above and beyond to take care of her after noticing she was being racially harassed by her white seat mate.
Poe told USA TODAY Wednesday that the white woman appeared to purposefully swap her American flag face mask for a police-supporting Blue Lives Matter mask once realizing Poe has the seat next to her. Blue Lives Matter is widely viewed as a counter movement to Black Lives Matter, which aims to eradicate white supremacy and has organized nationwide protests in response to police violence against Black people.
“That woman was trying to entice me into an argument because there was no need for her to flip that mask in my presence,” Poe said. “She didn’t do it for anyone else. It was as if she was making a statement and wanted me to know.”
Ironically, Poe was taking the flight from Minneapolis to Washington D.C. to attend the “Get Your Knee Off Our Neck” Commitment March organized by Rev. Al Sharpton on the National Mall.
Poe, 25, shared her experience in a viral Facebook post Monday. Despite the harassment, she was pleased with how Delta handled the incident and said she “will only fly Delta” after the company stood in solidarity with her and gifted her a Black Lives Matter pin along with a seat upgrade on her return flight.
The company replied to Poe’s viral Facebook post, writing, “When we say Black lives matter, we mean it. You matter to us, Demetria.”
Below, check out this 2019 video of Poe at her j-o-b.
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