A Milwaukee father recalled how a city bus driver discriminated against his wheelchair-bound son when she refused to service him and let him board because it would make her late.
Deshaunte Smith took to TikTok to recount his experience trying to ride a Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus to drop his son off at school.
He said that his son, DJ, had missed the school bus, so Smith decided to personally escort him and take a city bus as an alternative.
But Smith was baffled by what one of the bus drivers said when she saw that his son was in a wheelchair.
“So a Milwaukee city bus driver told me today that we were gonna make her late because my son is in a wheelchair,” Smith said in his TikTok video with a look of complete disbelief.
Smith said he was using Google to track the city buses, and the search engine advised him to take one specific bus route that would drop him and his son off near the school.
When another bus arrived at the stop where he and his son were waiting, Smith asked the driver if her route also went past the school.
“When she pulled up, she opened the door, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m not waiting on this bus, but do you go to this street?’ which is six blocks away. And she was like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘OK, then we will just get on this bus. She’s like, ‘Oh, y’all going to make me late!'” Smith said.
Smith said she shut her door, effectively ending the interaction.
But instead of driving off, she had to stay parked at the stop due to a red light, which Smith said made the encounter awkward since they were still standing outside after being denied service.
Smith said that after a few moments, the driver opened the doors again to try to ask them about their destination, but Smith refused to engage with her and told her they’d wait for the next bus.
“At that point, it was people on the bus, I was like kind of embarrassed a little bit, so I’m like, no, we’re good, we’ll wait,” Smith told WTMJ, adding that his son “realized he was being discriminated against in that instant.”
Smith said the driver of the next bus was more than accommodating and apologized on behalf of his colleague.
“And he apologized on her behalf, and he was like, ‘Yeah man, they’re supposed to let the ramp down for you, and they’re also supposed to strap you in,'” Smith said.
Smith said he planned to report the interaction to MCTS and is now in talks with an attorney to investigate the incident as a potential violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On Sept. 15, the transit agency released a statement saying MCTS officials are aware of what happened and are investigating. No details were released about whether the accused bus driver was penalized.
“MCTS is dedicated to providing safe, efficient, reliable, and customer-focused service to all riders, especially our most vulnerable community members,” the statement read.
Smith decried the bus driver’s treatment, stating that it’s disheartening when he and his family are seen as burdens by society.
“At that point, the damage had already been done because as a parent with a disabled child, like one of my pet peeves is when people act like it’s a problem or it’s an irritance for us to do normal s*** like getting on a bus,” Smith said. “Just be accommodating, or just give grace at least. It shouldn’t be that hard.”
