On a Recent Flight, I Called a Flight Attendant Out On Her Racist Comment
Awkward? Yes. Necessary? Also yes. And I hope it made a difference.
When the United Airlines flight attendant reaches our row, she sets the brake on her service cart and asks, “Would you care for the chicken or the vegetable meal?”
I’m seated on the aisle, and as I pull down my tray, I wait for the gentleman on my left to respond.
“Excuse me?” he asks with a friendly smile. “How’s the chicken prepared?”
“It’s peri-peri chicken,” the flight attendant says. Nothing more.
Oooh, I think. I love peri-peri chicken from that place called Nando’s, all spicy and juicy. Hmmm…wonder if it’s just as good on an airplane, though…
“Peri-peri?” the man asks.
Earlier, the man and I exchanged brief hellos as we took our seats. From what I can tell, he’s an American like me and seems slightly younger than my 54 years.
“Sorry,” he continues, looking to the flight attendant, then to me. “What’s ‘peri-peri’?”
What the flight attendant says next shocks me.
“No idea,” she says, then quickly adds, “They just come up with these names that don’t mean anything to anyone.”
Wait just a second. Did I just hear her right?
“They just come up with these names that don’t mean anything to anyone.”
Did she actually just say that???
I turn to the man and say, “It’s really good. A little spicy … really flavorful. Have you ever had Nando’s?”
“No, but…” he says, turning to the flight attendant, “I’ll try it!”
As the flight attendant passes a small tray to the man, a few things strike me:
The woman has clearly never heard of the Nando’s PERi-PERi chicken chain (bummer, but whatever).
The woman has never heard of the African Bird’s Eye chili — sometimes known as peri-peri or piri-piri or peli-peli, with pronunciations varying based on what language is being used, particularly Portuguese or African (also a bummer, but whatevs).
United Airlines has either failed to educate its employees about this particular menu item (suggesting a communication problem within the company) OR the woman was unwilling to learn about the inflight culinary offerings (which would point to unprofessionalism).
The woman apparently considers food from cultures she doesn’t understand as meaningless. This is not fine. It’s not “whatever”. It’s not cool. It’s racist.
And so, as a journalist, I do what I do. I jot down the details of what I observe, then attempt to respectfully engage the individual directly.
“I’ll also take the peri-peri chicken,” I say.
She nods and reaches into her cart for my serving.
Then I ask, “Did I hear ‘peri-peri’ is a made-up name? And that it means nothing to anyone?”
She looks at me in silence, rather startled.
I look her in the eye and say, “Peri-peri is a type of cuisine that actually means something to me — and to many others.” My gut tells me she isn’t receptive to any more detail than this.
“Well. Good for you,” she says, setting my food on my tray. Clearly, my gut was right.
Still, I can’t help myself and add, “Peri-peri’s a seasoning made from an African chili, and it’s delicious,” I say.
I’m hardly surprised when she says nothing, unlocks her cart and moves to the next row.
Our exchange was awkward and unpleasant, yet from my perspective, I’d have been irresponsible not to speak up.
And so, days later, I remain hopeful that the next time someone asks her about the dish, she feels better resourced and at least *able* to deliver a more sensitive and thoughtful response.
Whether she does (or doesn’t) is entirely up in the air.
Good for you. I'm the same way - you have to say something. Ignorance is a choice. We don't have to abet it.
Yes, these conversations are awkward and unpleasant but I am glad you had the courage and conviction to speak. And bummer for her -- peri-peri is really good.