A recent bout of alleged Virgin Atlantic racism has struck social media, raising questions about the airline’s tolerance for harassment. With the rise of attention given to workplace and consumer relations, it appears some companies still have much to learn.
It all started on a flight from London to Shanghai. A Chinese woman had been allegedly harassed by a fellow passenger, a Caucasian male. It is unknown what the harassment may have consisted of, as details of the incident haven’t been disclosed. When the woman attempted to get a flight attendant to help, her plea allegedly went ignored, and one attendant is said to have threatened her to be quiet.
RELATED STORIES ON INQUISITR:
UFO? Virgin Atlantic Video Claimed To Be A New York UFO Sighting
Virgin Atlantic To Offer Cell Service On Flights
Virgin Atlantic To Offer Live In-Flight Entertainment
Leslie Jones Responds To ‘Ghostbusters’ Racism Controversy
Stephen A. Smith Tells College Students In Black History Month Speech That Racism No Longer Exists
One phrase which the Chinese social media site known as Weibo appears to repeatedly use is “Chinese pig.” It is unknown if this was the insult the girl had found herself dealing with, further fueling the allegations of Virgin Atlantic racism.
Racism in public places has earned its place in the spotlight in the past few years, and in the latest United States presidential election, it has escalated. After President Obama reacted almost immediately to white police gunning down unarmed black suspects, and then almost seemed to ignore a collection of unarmed Marines being slaughtered, even Obama was called a racist. Donald Trump, a Republican hopeful, has gained an unusual following in spite of seemingly racist remarks against Hispanics and blacks. He even gained the ire of feminists when Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly was slammed for alleged “feminine problems.”
The racism allegedly present on the Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Shanghai shows just how global the problem is. Between alleged threats and flight attendants allegedly ignoring the pleas of a Chinese passenger, when the story hit the internet, it went viral.
On Virgin Atlantic’s Facebook page, the racism accusations spawned nearly 7,000 comments, the most popular of which were angry. The top comment was from Yvonne Wu.
“How could you ’embrace human spirits’ without knowing how to respect your customers. How could you let a young girl be threatened and insulted with no reason but being a Chinese and yet do nothing about it (yeah actually you do something, like telling her that she will be expelled if she [complains any] more about the racist insulting her) Your employee’s reaction toward this issue is DISGUSTING.”
The airline has claimed they are attempting to be proactive about the problem, and they responded to all of the top comments, including the one above.
“We are aware of this incident and would like to reassure you that the safety and [well-being] of customers is always our priority, and we are taking these allegations seriously. Our customer relations team is in direct contact with the customer to ensure the situation is resolved.”
Of course, as it always happens on social media, Virgin Atlantic’s racism accusations drew a firestorm of hate. People aren’t so forgiving when they can leave a comment. Most entertainment news sites are also known for commenters who won’t stop harassing others for simply having an unpopular opinion.
Chinese woman complains of racist remarks on Virgin Atlantic flight.https://t.co/OIEVPhDIda pic.twitter.com/rQxzUgTaT6
— chinadotcom_en (@chinadotcom_en) March 18, 2016
In response to the flood of hate comments, Virgin Atlantic has responded to the racism accusations by stating that they “are a multinational company with zero tolerance of racism.”
[Image via Scott Heavey / Getty Images ]
