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Sisanie

Sisanie is co-host of Ryan Seacrest's show On Air With Ryan on KIIS FM Los Angeles' Hit Music radio station from 5am-10am.Full Bio

 

Flight Attendant Shares Emotional Conversation With Passenger About Race

It's not everyday that we hear positive stories regarding interactions between passengers and flight attendants (since good news doesn't always make the news!) but this is one that absolutely needed to be shared.

JacqueRae Hill is a black woman from Dallas, Texas who has been a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines for 14 years. When protests turned violent the night of May 29, she was understandably overwhelmed, but knew she still needed to go into work that next day. She said she prayed on her way in to work that day, "God please help me get to work today."

She was working a flight to Panama City, and as it started boarding, and she performed her usual safety checks, greeting passengers...

Then she noticed one of the final passengers to board was carrying the book "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism," by Robin DiAngelo.

After she finished service, she moved toward the back of the plane, where the man who was reading the book was seated, alone.

She asked him... “So that book, how is it?' "The two just started talking about the book. She recalls the man, who was white, saying, "It's our fault. We have to start these conversations."

JacqueRae revealed that as the man spoke these words, she became overwhelmed with emotion and began crying. "I know he didn't know what to do. I know I startled him. I was embarrassed. I didn't expect that. It was just a genuine moment for me, and we talked for 10 minutes."

After their conversation ended, he asked her name, and she introduced herself. He then told her, "I'm Doug Parker, the CEO of American Airlines."

She shared her entire account of the story in a Facebook post, including photos of the letter he wrote to her:

JacqueRae is thankful to have had that conversation even if he was a random person that had no influence. She concluded her post by saying: "There are so many different ways to affect change in the world. I stand with anyone who wants to make a difference no matter if it is how I would do it or not."

I think this is a simple reminder that we can all do something right now to better ourselves and the world - and it may start with something as simple as reading an educational book on a trip.

If you have books or articles you suggest others read, tv shows to watch, or anything that applies to what our country is dealing with right now, leave your suggestions in a Yap below!

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Photo: Getty Images


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