Sometimes it’s all I can do to take a deep breath, close my eyes and wonder where the world is headed. Of late, it feels like though we’re making incredible advances in many fields, we’re taking backwards steps in others.
One thing I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly understand is that some people see themselves as better than others based on physical appearance, race or financial status. Worse still, are those who believe they then have a right to put down others based on these factors. These heartless souls leave me angry beyond words.
A specific example of such abhorrent behavior can be witnessed in a recent video going viral on Facebook, wherein a 77-year-old Jamaican woman was racially abused on a Ryanair flight. As if that humiliation wasn’t enough, staff aboard the plane chose to move her from her seat instead of the offender.
As per reports, it was on Ryanair flight FR015 from Barcelona to London that the incident occurred. As passengers took their seats, one man became impatient over a 77-year-old woman who happened to be moving slowly. According to the woman’s daughter, the elderly woman suffers from osteoarthritis.
Here is the racist bigot you ALLOWED to racially discriminate an elderly lady on your flight and let him have his way by moving the VICTIM rather than offloading him and passing him onto the police #SayNoToRacism boycott @Ryanair @RyanairFlights pic.twitter.com/4hZzv6Uj25
— FSG OUT (@Aviationlfc) October 21, 2018
The man sitting beside her then began to insult the woman. Among other things, he told her, “I don’t want to sit next to you, you ugly cow.” He went to call her an “ugly black bastard”.
Seemingly without reason, the man was quick to abuse the 77-year-old, all the while ignoring others on the plane who told him to calm down. Fortunately, however, the event was caught on camera, with the resulting footage becoming a viral hit online shortly after being uploaded.
What caused heightened rage was the manner in which the Ryanair staff chose to handle the situation. When called upon to intervene, they opted to move the victim of the racial abuse, not the man who was so intent on dishing it out, thereby giving him exactly what he wanted.
The passengers, meanwhile, defended the woman’s rights, arguing with the staff as well as the man in question.
In the aftermath of the event – and with the video having gone viral – Ryanair released a statement on Twitter that explained that since the matter is now with the police, they would be refusing to comment.
The fact that Ryanair haven’t even issued an apology is, in my opinion, absolutely shocking.
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