White Mom Sues Southwest for ‘Blatant Racism’ After Being Accused of Trafficking Black Daughter

A white mother is suing one of the country’s biggest airlines, claiming it accused her of trafficking her black daughter.

Mary MacCarthy, of Los Angeles, filed suit Thursday against the airline for “blatant racism.”

The mother is seeking to change Southwest’s training and policies, after she accused the airline employee had assumed her daughter Moira, then 10, couldn’t be hers based on their differing skintones.

Mary MacCarthy and daughter

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In Oct. 2021, the suit claims, MacCarthy was traveling to her brother’s funeral with her daughter Moira, then 10, via the San Jose airport, when a Southwest airline employee made the wrong assumption about the pair.

While they were in the air from California to Colorado, a Southwest employee called the Denver Police Department to “report Ms. MacCarthy for suspected child trafficking,” said the lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Colorado.

“There was no basis to believe that Ms. MacCarthy was trafficking her daughter,” the lawsuit states.

“The only basis for the Southwest employee’s call was the belief that Ms. MacCarthy’s daughter could not possibly be her daughter because she is a biracial child.”

As the pair walked down the jet bridge after the plane landed, were whisked off for questioning by police, the court papers said.

During the questioning, Moira began to “break down in tears.”

The mother-daughter duo was eventually let go, but MacCarthy claims the airline displayed “blatant racism,” which caused her daughter “extreme emotional distress.”

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