One woman's Facebook post is going viral as she thanks Delta Airlines for stepping up after a Blue Lives Matter supporter harassed her on a flight last week.
Demetria Poe, a 25-year-old Black woman, took a flight to Washington, D.C. to attend the Commitment March last Friday. On that flight, a white passenger swapped out her American flag face mask for a Blue Lives Matter face mask after realizing that she was seated next to Poe.
“That woman was trying to entice me into an argument because there was no need for her to flip that mask in my presence,” Poe told USA Today. “She didn’t do it for anyone else. It was as if she was making a statement and wanted me to know.”
Poe decided not to engage the woman, who then tried to provoke her by saying things like, “I support blue lives because I support our officers.”
Poe responded by noting correctly that “blue lives do not exist,” which she later expanded on through her Facebook post.
“The life of an officer exists, but there is no such thing as a blue life and that statement is nothing but a rebuttal to the fact that BLM has been disregarded time after time,” she wrote.
The woman continued to be blatantly racist, blaming George Floyd for his own murder and spouting off illogical fallacies like, “The reason Blacks were 3/4th was because the south would have to many votes.”
“Us saying Black lives matter don’t mean all other lives don’t matter,” Poe told USA Today. “We are saying if all lives matter, why is it justifiable for anyone to slaughter Black people?"
Poe is a kindergarten teacher in Minnesota, where Floyd, Philando Castile, and many others have been murdered by police, stoking the flames of Black Lives Matter, the ongoing protest movement combating police violence against Black people in America.
"I'm marching for something that my grandparents had to march for, and I’m sitting here in the face of racism once again,” Poe said. “I can’t escape it. Now I’m having someone who is trying to test my humanity and my history all in one breath."
During this incident, several white passengers around Poe confronted the woman. Flight attendants also checked in and offered to move the racist lady sitting next to her.
“I felt the genuine and sincere concern the flight attendants had for me and the people around me,” she said. “I was shocked. I was happy, but I was still fearful. Living in Minnesota, I have seen how things get blown up. I just really wanted to get off the flight.”
After the flight, attendants told Poe that the woman would no longer be flying with Delta because the company does not “stand for racism and discrimination.” When she later returned to the airport for her flight home, the company surprised Poe with an upgraded seat and a small bag of gifts. The gifts included a Black Lives Matter pin with Delta’s logo.
At the end of her post, Poe declared that she will only fly Delta from now on.
The company replied, writing, "When we say Black lives matter, we mean it. You matter to us, Demetria."
