Lindsay Gottlieb, the women’s basketball coach at UC Berkeley and mother to 1-year-old biracial son Jordan Martin, tweeted on May 28 about her experience with a Southwest Airlines employee at the Denver airport who demanded that she “prove” she was actually Jordan’s mother.
Gottlieb said that she was “appalled” and called the incident “demeaning and insensitive, not to mention inefficient.” She added, “She [the Southwest employee] said because we have [a] different last name. My guess is because he has a different skin color.”
@SouthwestAir I’m appalled that after approx 50 times flying with my 1 year old son, ticket counter personnel told me I had to “prove” that he was my son, despite having his passport. She said because we have different last name. My guess is because he has a different skin color.
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
@SouthwestAir she 1st asked for proof with birth certificate. She then said it’s a “federal law” (not true) but asked me to prove I’m mother with Facebook post.What??Mother next to me said she’s never been asked for proof despite diff last name..not shockingly, not mixed face fam
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
@SouthwestAir it was demeaning and insensitive, not to mention inefficient. Would have missed flight if it was not delayed. I would advise better training for employees to avoid this happening to others
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
Gottlieb told The Washington Post, “We had a passport that verified our son’s age and identity, and both parents were present. But still being pushed further to ‘prove’ that he was my son felt disrespectful and motivated by more than just concern for his well-being.”
Gottlieb has since used the incident to make a statement to the Associated Press about non-”traditional” families. “I felt that in this situation it was my responsibility to say ‘Hey, this isn’t OK,”’ she said. “I hope the coverage this has received can serve as a learning opportunity, and that all families—regardless of how ‘traditional’ they may or may not look—are treated with dignity and respect.”
Some, including Chrissy Teigen, have pointed out on Twitter since that the incident was likely a precaution for child trafficking.
airlines have asked this of me, too, with my daughter. once I learned it’s a precaution for the very real threat of child trafficking, I stopped being exasperated with it. Now I’m kind of worried when they don’t ask.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 29, 2018
but yeah, it’s definitely a situational thing, though. depends on the day, depends on the agent, you never know! going to London is the most difficult with her in my experience. I have to bring a file folder of papers.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 29, 2018
However, some are still insistent that the incident is racially motivated, since it only seems to occur with children who look different from their parents (as Gottlieb pointed out in her original Tweets, another mother whose child had a different last name but was the same race had never been asked for proof).
Yeah, but I don’t feel it’s their place. If this is an actual policy then they need to do this with EVERY passenger, not just those that look different. My children run for a nice tan to transparent, not once was this aked of us. I take issue with this given the world we live in.
— Cocoa Khalessi, Ed. S. (@CocoaKhalessi) May 30, 2018
‘…the very real threat of child trafficking…” Unless SW airlines has a policy, which is consistently enforced, that every minor child flying must present I.D. to prove thier relationship; this incident was racially motivated…
— Katy HackerSpace (@KatyHackerSpace) May 30, 2018
According to Business Insider, Southwest has since apologized to Gottlieb in a statement, calling the moment a “coaching opportunity”—perhaps a reference to Gottlieb’s occupation.