*A Black woman from Colorado is speaking out against Frontier Airlines after she was racially profiled and falsely accused of trafficking her white four-year-old sister.
As reported by Denver 7, Lakeyjanay Bailey, 21, was traveling from Denver to Dallas with her four-year-old adoptive sister Olivia. Once they arrived at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, authorities were waiting to speak with Bailey.
One of the officers asked Olivia “if she knows me and what am I to her, and he asked what my mom was to her,” said Bailey. Law enforcement had been called after a passenger voiced concern to an employee of Frontier Airlines that the child could be a victim of human trafficking.
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“The whole time they were talking with us, people kept staring at us, whispering and stuff,” said Bailey.
While Bailey and Olivia were detained, authorities spoke with Bailey’s mother and a social worker to verify why the two were traveling together, according to the report.
“If the roles were changed and it was a white person walking off the plane with a Black person, like a Black child, I feel like things would be different,” added Bailey. She and her family are now considering taking legal action against Frontier Airlines for racial discrimination.
In a statement, Frontier Airlines confirmed that officers responded after a passenger voiced their concern.
“A concern was raised during the flight by another passenger who was sitting near the woman and child and suspected human trafficking,” the statement reads. “That passenger approached the flight crew with those concerns and subsequently completed a written report during the flight to document her observations. The captain was notified and felt an obligation to report the matter. Air travel is one of the most common means for human trafficking. Race played no part in the actions of the flight crew who were following established protocols.”
Check out the video report about the incident via the YouTube clip above.
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