Minneapolis, MN — Demetria Poe, an African American woman from Minneapolis, says that she is beyond satisfied with Delta Airlines after they took a stand against the racism she experienced from a white passenger during her flight and even upgraded her seat for her return flight.
Poe, who is 25-years old, was traveling to Washington D.C. for the Commitment March when the incident happened. She said a white woman deliberately put on a Blue Lives Matter mask, replacing the American flag mask she was initially wearing when she realized she was sitting next to a Black woman.
“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.”
Eventually, Poe said the woman started a conversation saying, “I support blue lives because I support our officers.”
Poe responded by explaining that “there is no such thing as a blue life and that stamen is nothing but a rebuttal to the fact that BLM has been disregarded time after time.”
But the woman apparently continued making racist statements such as, “Africans from the west sold the most slaves,” “The reason Blacks were 3/4th was because the south would have too many votes,” and “Having Blacks in America has been the best thing for them because they can work [their] way up.”
During the flight, Poe was offered to move her seat when the flight attendants noticed the situation. She was also informed upon landing that the woman was already banned from Delta as the company does not tolerate racism.
Poe shared her experience on Facebook in a now-viral post, to which Delta replied, “When we say Black lives matter, we mean it. You matter to us, Demetria.”
More than that, Poe also received an upgraded return flight seat and some gifts from Delta.
“I said all this to say that it’s time and situations like these [where] these companies need to take a stance! This furthers why I will only fly Delta Airlines! At this point, make me an ambassador, Delta,” she said.