FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF)- Dr. Tisha Rowe, a Houston area doctor was about to board her flight to come home from her vacation in Jamaica when an American Airlines crew member pulled her aside. “They kept asking me if I had a jacket and I kept asking why,” Rowe said.
Rowe says she was told she wasn’t allowed to board the flight back home unless she covered up the romper she was wearing. Rowe then had to board the plane wearing a blanket. “I will never fly American Airlines again,” she said. “But more importantly to me was the way this all made my son feel. He was humiliated, ashamed and embarrassed just like me…as an adult, I know how to process situations when I know it’s wrong…as a child he doesn’t understand,” she said.
Rowe has created an online petition, called ‘Freedom to Fly’ which now has over 35,000 signatures. “The dress code is too ambiguous and it creates room and the opportunity for discrimination based on gender or race,” she said. “My hope is that American Airlines will see this and know they can’t just sweep this under the rug and take action.”
American Airlines tweeted a public apology and gave Rowe a refund for her ticket. Rowe said her attorney is in communication with American Airlines and the NAACP to actively work on a resolution. “I can’t discuss the details of this resolution but the primary goal is the same as my petition.. to get the dress code policy updated so no child has to go through their parent being humiliated ever again,” she said.
Here is what i was wearing when @AmericanAir asked me to deplane for a talk. At which point I was asked to “cover up”. When defending my outfit I was threatened with not getting back on the flight unless I walked down the aisle wrapped in a blanket. #notsofriendlyskies pic.twitter.com/AYQNNriLcq
— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) July 1, 2019
We are policed for being black. 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. I guess if it’s a “nice ass” vs a @Serena Booty it’s okay…
— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd) June 30, 2019
