It doesn’t seem to matter where I am going or what airport I’m leaving from, but first class (or business class or both, depending on the flight you are on) is so lacking in diversity that it is exactly what is representative of everything that’s wrong with our society. On Monday on my connecting flight through Charlotte to Tampa, I got upgraded to First. First class on this plane consisted of 16 seats. I boarded the plane a little late, so I was the last person in the first class cabin to be seated. I took a quick look around to see who my fellow passengers were. Out of 16 first class passengers, 12 were older white men (at least age 50 and chances are even older than that given the amount of white hair I saw), three were middle-aged to older white women, and… there was me. I’m the only person of color sitting in the first class cabin. I’m also the only person under the age of 40 probably, and a year ago, I could say I was almost always the only person under the age of 30.

To be honest, I was surprised there were three other women sitting with me. Most of the time when I get upgraded, it’s always all men and me, plus maybe another woman or two at most. It was like a tiny glimmer of how women are doing better in our society now, either having the higher earning power to pay for first class seats, or the airline status to actually get the upgrades I get. You could almost call it a slight increase in “diversity” in the front cabin of the plane, as laughable as that is.

How do we get more women with more earning power and airline status, and even more, how do we get more people of color, particularly black and Latino, to have the ability to sit in the front cabin, for it not to be a dream or a reality that is seemingly out of grasp? Optimists say that the world is getting better, that people are less racist. Perhaps they are less outwardly racist, but it doesn’t say much for subconscious racism or the clear lack of diversity on an airplane’s luxury cabin. Articles like these make it hard for me to believe in a truly equal world of equal opportunity. I always get curious looks when I am traveling for work and getting upgraded; it’s like people cannot fathom why or how a young Asian woman would be able to sit with them. Yes, I know you are all used to sitting with people who look like you, dress like you, and probably come from similar backgrounds as you. But get over it and your racist, sexist thoughts. I’m coming to take over and bash all your antiquated stereotypes. 🙂