A Black software developer and inventor’s girls trip got off to a rocky start after the group allegedly was the target of racial discrimination because they reportedly decided to treat themselves to first-class seats.
Photo Credit: @techgirl1908/Instagram
Angie Jones, senior director of Developer Relations at Applitools and Test Automation University, traveled to an unnamed location for a fun time away with her girlfriends but the group reportedly was met with trouble as soon as they tried to board the plane.
According to Jones, who did not name the airline she traveled with, flight staff attempted to move them to “regular lines” and she overheard passengers making rude comments about the group, including one man in particular.
“This weekend I went on a girls trip,” Jones tweeted on July 27. “10 Black women flying first class. People literally could not process how it was possible. Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled “are they a higher class of people than I am?!” Stay mad.”
The “Java Champion,” who holds 26 patented inventions in the United States of America and Japan in addition to being an IBM Master Inventor, was caught off-guard by her tweet’s viral status, after being shared over 32,000 times, and took the high road when responding to her naysayers.
“Don’t have the spoons to reply to everyone but to those saying I’m lying, you’re a huge part of the problem you tell yourself a notable person is lying (for what reason, I cannot figure out) before you believe there are actual racists in…America FYI, yall look really foolish,” she tweeted.
Although some questioned whether the interaction actually happened, many shared their own experiences of racial discrimination while flying.
Jones has focused her attention back on her work since her tweet gained attention, however, on July 30, three days after her flight story, she shared images of a variety of bouquets she received after dealing with a “rough week.”
