A woman heading from the Caribbean to the United States was asked to leave an American Airlines flight before it departed after she was told her dress was not suitable for travel.
Photographs show outfit Dr. Rowe was wearing when AA refused to allow her on board.On June 30 Dr. Latisha “Tisha” Rowe and her eight-year-old son were boarding a flight from Kingston to Miami when she was asked by flight attendants on American Airlines to get off the aircraft.
Dr. Rowe said she was asked by flight attendants to cover up as she “was not getting on the plane dressed like that.” She was wearing a strapless romper, an outfit which leaves her arms, shoulders and parts of her legs exposed.
According to Dr. Rowe, she was humiliated and eventually used a blanket to cover herself in order to board the flight.
“To me, that felt like a slap in the face, because I felt appropriately dressed,” Rowe told CNN television network.
“But I'm being told indirectly, in front of my son that … you know, it felt like 'you look like a slut, so let’s fix this’.”
APOLOGY
American Airlines has since apologized to Dr. Rowe, who is African American.
“We were concerned about Dr. Rowe's comments, and reached out to her and our team at the Kingston airport to gather more information about what occurred. We apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience, and have fully refunded their travel. We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us,” an AA representative said in a statement.
However, she later stated on social media that she believed that African American females are subject to double standards.
“We are policed for being black,” Dr. Rowe stated on Twitter. “Our bodies are over sexualized as women and we must ADJUST to make everyone around us comfortable. I've seen white women with much shorter shorts board a plane without a blink of an eye …”
According to American Airlines, the flight attendants who spoke to Dr. Rowe are black.
Dr. Rowe is a family physician who lives in Houston.
