United Airlines announced a pilot diversity initiative to recruit women and BIPOC people via Twitter. In response, white men shed racist tears because the company dared to challenge the status quo of white supremacy.
The airline stated in the announcement the goal is to have 50% of the 5,000 pilots they plan to train “be women or people of color” over the next decade.
Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color. Learn more and apply now: https://t.co/VbOFvFOksB pic.twitter.com/r0ScH6MQAJ
— United Airlines (@united) April 6, 2021
Americans should applaud the fact that United Airlines realizes that the company’s team of pilots is overwhelmingly white and male and that they want to diversify, right? After all, any company’s workforce should resemble the country’s actual population it serves, and people need to see themselves represented in corporations they support.
However, United Airlines’ news was met with scorn, primarily from white men beginning with an article for Fox News written by Tucker Carlson, who referred to “equity” as a “scheme.” Carlson writes, “United Airlines is mandating affirmative action quotas in its flight schools. This is a big change for the country.” We know there are two Americas, one white and one for the rest of us. So which one is he speaking of? Change for whom?
On Twitter, white men like Carlson and some white women, who attempted to sound as if they were concerned for the BIPOC community, gave the “I don’t care what color my pilot is” disclaimer before decrying in coded racist language that they preferred a white pilot by using words like “best,” “qualified,” “not because they have a skin color.”
The responses on Twitter were abominable. There was less focus on gender and an overwhelming focus on race from the very people who always ask, “why is everything always about race?”
BIPOC, specifically Black people, were called “tokens,” “untrustworthy,” “unsafe,” and “unqualified.” For its part, United was declared to be “fake woke” by many who claimed the airline was posing for the “neoliberal,” “neo-racist left” with “affirmative action hires.”
hey @TheJusticeDept, this neoracism is illegal and dangerous. Pilots are a very high-skill position and people entrust their lives to them on a plane. To select based on bigoted tokenism and not pure merit is a crime and endangers citizens. Act.
— fourth turning capital (@SocietyGoBrrrrr) April 7, 2021
“Mommy I’m scared”
“Don’t worry darling, they made sure 50% of the pilots were women or people of colour”
— Chan L (@ChanLPfa) April 7, 2021
So either United is turning away “qualified” diverse applicants today or it’s going to start hiring and training applicants in the future that failed to qualify under their current standards.
Which is it?
[shut up, they explained]
— Secretary-General Covfefe Anon, PhD (@CovfefeAnon) April 7, 2021
Yeaaaa when I’m 31,000 feet in the air, I’m not really gonna find comfort in knowing that my pilot was an affirmative action hire.
— Julie Borowski (@JulieBorowski) April 7, 2021
Quotas are illegal. Have your lawyers considered the litigation risks this raises? If a plane crashes because a less qualified pilot candidate was chosen over a more qualified candidate due to your quota system, what will you say to the hundreds of bereaved families?
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) April 7, 2021
What are the ratios of qualified pilots? Are you going to hire less qualified pilots just to be “woke” ? When I fly I want to be confident the pilot of my flight was chosen because they were the most qualified…not because of their skin color or gender.
— L. Stansell (@LStansell74) April 6, 2021
I’d like your flight deck to reflect the safest and most efficient pilot of a commercial airplane. I’m not risking my family’s safety with your wokeness.
— OutsideTAMU (@toddpayne7) April 7, 2021
Whoever advised United executives to come out with this statement should probably be fired. Unless, of course, they got their job due to some diversity quota… in that case, hell of a job, pal.
— Tom Carroll (@TomSMilo) April 8, 2021
As a Latino I NO LONGER feel safe flying on United Airlines.
Martin Luther King said “Judge me by the content of my character and not by the color of my skin”.
Apparently, United is hiring based on skin color and NOT the best.
— PC Bullbuster (@PCBullbuster) April 8, 2021
Sorry, sir. You lack the complexion to make this connection.#BoycottUnitedAirlines
— Defend Santa Cruz (@Save_SantaCruz) April 8, 2021
This is absolutely terrifying. That United is using characteristics OTHER than PILOTING ABILITY to select PILOTS is enough for this consumer to never fly United again. I don’t care how woke my cockpit is at 40,000 ft over the ocean in a storm.
— Lance (@Lance_Attanasio) April 8, 2021
