“Much of the problem is we don’t talk about it enough.”
A black Southwest Airlines flight attendant was moved to tears during a discussion on race with one passenger who only later identified himself as American Airlines CEO Doug Parker.
The 14-year Southwest employee, JacqueRae Hill, drove to work Friday morning with a “heavy heart” after watching protests erupt nationwide following the death of George Floyd.
While at work, it wasn’t Parker, but the book he was reading — titled “White Fragility” — that caught her eye.
“So how is the book?” Hill asked after making her way to the back of the aircraft and sitting in the empty aisle seat next to Parker.
Hill recalled him telling her he was halfway through it, but that it “really point[ed] out how important these conversations on race are.”
“As I began to respond the tears just start[ed] falling,” Hill said.
Parker later told American Airlines executives in an email that he “felt wholly inadequate” but “knew it was a special moment.”