Is this racial bias?

NUance

NUance

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UC Berkeley coach says Southwest Airlines asked for Facebook evidence to prove biracial son was hers

By Michael Bartiromo    | Fox News   5 hours ago

Lindsay Gottlieb, the University of California’s women’s basketball coach, says she’s “appalled” with Southwest after one of the airline’s employees allegedly asked her to prove she was the mother of her biracial son before getting on a flight.  LINK
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Is it always racial bias if a person is treated differently because of race?  What if there's a problem with children being stolen (or going through shady adoptions) and then being whisked off into another country?  Should the people behind the flight counter ignore that problem and not ask, in order to avoid the possibility of offending someone?

 
I wouldn't call that bias at all - I'd call it inappropriate and against all protocol for any US Airline at best,  and at worst I'd call it flat out discrimination and potentially racism.  

Can't recall NUance, are you a parent?  If so, how many times have you been stopped and asked to show pictures of your child to prove it?  I haven't seen this on any flights I've taken, and I fly numerous times a month.  I have friends who have adopted children from all over the world and never have they been stopped.  

If they were asking every parent to prove the child they had with them was theirs with pictures then fine, it's odd, and it's not happening anywhere but ok.  When they single anyone out its discrimination.  Was there a child missing from the area that matched this child's description?  Was there a warrant out for the woman's arrest?   She had a passport for this child.  She was flying out of CO.  Not bias at all - nope, worse.

I find it interesting that this was posted from Fox, as I haven't seen it in the news anywhere else (but I haven't had the tv on).  I'd think that something like this would be getting lots of air.

 
We traveled and carried birth certificates if needed for our young kids, triplets. If someone would have asked to see Facebook evidence I would have called them a “stupid son of b!^@h” and demanded for the manager to fire the idiot on the spot.

 
No, I've never been stopped and asked whether my child was in fact mine.  But if it did happen I would understand that the question has to do with child safety.  I guess some people would rather avoid the possibility of offending a parent with an inquiry about the child they were travelling with, than avoid the possibility of preventing a child abduction.  

 
NUance said:
No, I've never been stopped and asked whether my child was in fact mine.  But if it did happen I would understand that the question has to do with child safety.  I guess some people would rather avoid the possibility of offending a parent with an inquiry about the child they were travelling with, than avoid the possibility of preventing a child abduction.  
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By using Facebook though?

 
I don't think this was racial bias, but unless they were asking kids who were the same color as their parents at random in equal numbers, it's definitely racial profiling. Unless the child was showing obvious signs of distress or something similar that wasn't reported.
 

But there are people who say profiling works and is thus fine, so not everyone would agree that's a bad thing.

 
This was highly inappropriate and worse than racial bias. Like was mentioned earlier, if this was standard procedure for everyone travelling with kids, fine. But in the context it happened, with a mother and child who appear to be of differing or mixed ethnicity, well it doesn't get much worse than that. This can't be explained away in the name of child safety. If Southwest is concerned about possible child abductions then they should be doing things very differently and not haphazardly singling out people based on looks and requesting sketchy social media for proof. This was so wrong.

 
The linked story doesn't say, and what I would like to know, is...what was the airline employee's rationale for asking for proof?  What thoughts were going through that person's head?  Were any suspicions raised that would lead a person to think, "Hey, this doesn't feel right..."  But yeah overall, I concur with others that right now, without any additional information, this is actually worse than racial bias.

 
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Making Chimichangas said:
The linked story doesn't say, and what I would like to know, is...what was the airline employee's rationale for asking for proof?  What thoughts were going through that person's head?  Were any suspicions raised that would lead a person to think, "Hey, this doesn't feel right..."  But yeah overall, I concur with others that right now, without any additional information, this is actually worse than racial bias.
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She had his passport. Must have been something very suspicious, Facebook would obviously be the best method of checking. I’m surprised there are people that would be okay with it, honestly.

 
The lengths Fox News commenters will go to to convince themselves it's anything but about the fact the kid is biracial.

Pure speculation on my part, but I can imagine the possibility that they have developed intelligence that ISIS or similar groups are trying to penetrate airport security using children as cover? It could be what she alleges, but I can also see where it might well be something entirely different. Her statement about "white privilege" tells me she was carrying a chip on her shoulder to begin with.
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Moiraine said:
The lengths Fox News commenters will go to to convince themselves it's anything but about the fact the kid is biracial.
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intelligence that ISIS or similar groups are trying to penetrate airport security using children as cover?

Yup.  ISIS is doing this, but only with Southwest flights out of Denver.

 
NUance said:
No, I've never been stopped and asked whether my child was in fact mine.  But if it did happen I would understand that the question has to do with child safety.  I guess some people would rather avoid the possibility of offending a parent with an inquiry about the child they were travelling with, than avoid the possibility of preventing a child abduction.  
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It has ZERO to do with the possibility of offending a parent.  If you truly think any part of this was due to this agent's concern with "child safety" you're kidding yourself.

 
It looks bad, but I really don't think it's as big of a deal as some of you think. Its more about a SW employee not having good people skills. The kid doesn't look like their parent, for obvious reasons. They don't have the same last name either. Those are a few red flags to start asking a some questions and make sure everything is ok. Obviously the employee didn't know how to smoothly talk through it without being offensive. Just ask some simple questions like: how old, when  is the birthday, where you going, why are  you traveling, etc. If they answer things calmly and quickly then things are probably fine. Asking for Facebook is ridiculous, a birth certificate should be enough, unless they have other required documents for all adults flying with children.

 
It looks bad cuz it is bad.  

I look nothing like either of my parents, but I am white like them.  So is it only if skin color is different?  Or do you let gate agents determine on their own if in their opinion a kid looks like the person carrying it?  What about nanny's and grandparents who are caring for children and traveling with them?  What about all the adopted children that come from various countries and races and are members of families of a different race?  Children who are carried by one parent but not biologically related to the other?  What if I'm traveling with the mom that didn't give the egg?

There is a picture of the family - honestly, other than the fact that the babies skin is more mocha than white I think it looks a lot like the mom.  That's my opinion - and it doesn't matter, or make it ok for me to ask her to prove it is or isn't her baby.

Certainly people skills is part of the problem, but unless she was asking that every adult with a child under the age of 5 to prove via FB that the child was theirs this is more than a people skill issue.  Mom had a passport for this child.  It is not uncommon for children to not have the same name as one of their parents.  Perhaps an additional question was warranted, but this was not an innocent, "just trying to avoid a kidnapping" issue.

 
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