A Black software developer and inventor’s girls trip got off to a rocky start after the group allegedly was the target of racial discrimination because they reportedly decided to treat themselves to first-class seats.

Angie Jones went viral after sharing her negative experience flying in first-class while Black.
Photo Credit: @techgirl1908/Instagram

Angie Jones, senior director of Developer Relations at Applitools and Test Automation University, traveled to an unnamed location for a fun time away with her girlfriends but the group reportedly was met with trouble as soon as they tried to board the plane.

According to Jones, who did not name the airline she traveled with, flight staff attempted to move them to “regular lines” and she overheard passengers making rude comments about the group, including one man in particular.

“This weekend I went on a girls trip,” Jones tweeted on July 27. “10 Black women flying first class. People literally could not process how it was possible. Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled “are they a higher class of people than I am?!” Stay mad.”

this weekend I went on a girls trip. 10 Black women flying first class. People literally could not process how it was possible.

Staff tried to send us to regular lines. Passengers made snide remarks. One guy even yelled “are they a higher class of people than I am?!”

Stay mad.

— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) July 28, 2021

The “Java Champion,” who holds 26 patented inventions in the United States of America and Japan in addition to being an IBM Master Inventor, was caught off-guard by her tweet’s viral status, after being shared over 32,000 times, and took the high road when responding to her naysayers.

“Don’t have the spoons to reply to everyone but to those saying I’m lying, you’re a huge part of the problem you tell yourself a notable person is lying (for what reason, I cannot figure out) before you believe there are actual racists in…America FYI, yall look really foolish,” she tweeted.

Although some questioned whether the interaction actually happened, many shared their own experiences of racial discrimination while flying.

I’m brown and this happened to me. I had enough credits to upgrade my flight from SFO to YYZ to biz class. Standing the priority boarding queue a white man behind me told me I may be in the wrong queue. Showed him my boarding pass, aisle seat at row 1. He shut up quick.

— marino (@virtualized6ix) July 28, 2021

I sit up front just feed on those tears. Two weeks ago, the lady at the United Club west in DEN felt she had to tell me, “this is a private club”.

— Bryan Liles (@bryanl) July 28, 2021

I cannot count how many times this has happened to me. I noticed it doesn’t happen if I’m traveling with my maxi Chanel bag and my LV duffel. Like I have to be decked out in designer to be there

— Onyekachi Amadi | EbonyCrown (@NigerianGirl1) July 29, 2021

Jones has focused her attention back on her work since her tweet gained attention, however, on July 30, three days after her flight story, she shared images of a variety of bouquets she received after dealing with a “rough week.”