A black woman has claimed she saw a passenger write racist messages about her on a flight from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, Georgia last week.
In a video posted on TikTok on Friday, Taila Rouse said she wanted to make the man feel as uncomfortable as she feels when she sees “disgusting” notifications on the screen.
Ms. Rouse has more than 25,000 followers on the video-sharing platform, where she mainly posts travel tips and hotel reviews.
She said that when she glanced at the man’s phone, she saw the words “big black woman” in a text message, making her want to continue reading the conversation.
“He and his family talked over and over about the woes of being stuck around Black and gay people,” she said.
“Then I saw this man say he was hoping the airlines would raise prices so these people get kicked out.”
She said she told her passenger that his messages made her feel uncomfortable. She then told him that she wouldn’t repeat what the text said because people “don’t need to know, but I just want you to know that I know”.
In a follow-up video, Ms. Rouse shows the man’s phone apparently displaying three outgoing text messages.
“Hopefully the airlines keep raising prices and get rid of these people. Ryan is sitting next to a large black woman,” the video states.
In the video caption, Ms Rouse wrote: “If you were bold enough to pull out your phone in the middle seat of an airplane and freely speak disrespectfully about Black people, then I would be bold enough to say something. that’s for you.”
In the first video, she says she told the man that if the airlines started “getting rid of people,” he would probably be able to afford to sit with his family.
While the man appeared to apologize to her at the end of the video, Ms Rouse said he was only saying sorry because she came across the text messages.
“You don’t have to blame me. You’re sorry I didn’t see it, she said.
Ms Rouse’s co-passenger was not identified in the video and his face was not shown. In response to a question from a TikTok follower, she said they “continued to sit next to each other for the next four hours” after she questioned him about the messages.
