From Chronwatch.com - http://www.chronwatch.com/content/co...y.asp?aid=1554
Hang onto your P.C. hat! A couple is suing Southwest Airlines because a stewardess used a rhyme deemed racist by two passengers. This story is by Robert Cronkleton of the Kansas City Star. Is there no limit to people being offended by this kind of trivia, and of some lawyer willing to take the case?
A widely recognized rhyme--and how it was used on a flight--are the focus of a case headed for trial in federal court in Kansas City, Kan.
Louise Sawyer, 46, of Merriam, and Grace Fuller, 48, of Lenexa, have sued Southwest Airlines alleging that they were discriminated against and suffered physical and emotional distress on a crowded February 2001 flight after an attendant uttered the rhyme.
Trying to get passengers to take their seats, Southwest Airlines flight attendant Jennifer Cundiff said over the intercom, ''Eenie, meenie, minie, moe; pick a seat, we gotta go.''
The two African-American women, who are siblings, contend they were the only passengers standing in the aisle at the time. Cundiff has contended that several others were in the aisle.
Sawyer and Fuller said the rhyme immediately struck them as a reference to the original, racist version, which begins with the words: ''Eenie, meenie, minie, moe; catch a n----- by his toe....''
Cundiff, who is white and was 22 at the time, said in court papers that she had never heard the offensive version of the rhyme and that she had used the phrase on several flights as a humorous way of getting passengers to sit down.
The second line of a modern version usually goes, ''Catch a tiger by the toe.''
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil ruled in Kansas City, Kan., that the case could proceed on the plaintiffs' claim that Southwest discriminated against them. Vratil ruled in favor of Southwest on another point, however, by dismissing the plaintiffs' claims for intentional and emotional distress.
''The court agrees with plaintiffs that because of its history, the phrase `eenie, meenie, minie, moe' could reasonably be viewed as objectively racist and offensive,'' Vratil wrote in her ruling. ''The jury, however, must decide whether Cundiff's remark was racist, or simply a benign and innocent attempt at humor.''
Although many books that trace the history of words and phrases do not contain an entry for ''eenie, meenie, minie, mo,'' at least one does.
The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson dates the rhyme to the mid-19th century and says that the original version was ''insensitive at best.'' Hendrickson adds that ''happily, the second line is much more frequently today `Catch a tiger by the toe.' ''
Sawyer and Fuller said Friday that their case against Southwest evolved from a vacation to Las Vegas. On the return trip, they failed to arrive at the gate at least 10 minutes before departure and were not allowed to board.
They were placed on ''priority standby'' for the next flight. After boarding, they had trouble finding seats. As they stood in the aisle, Cundiff said the rhyme over the intercom.
''I was infuriated by the comment,'' Sawyer said Friday. She said fellow passengers snickered at the rhyme, which further made her feel alienated.
Fuller said that she, too, felt that the rhyme was directed at her. ''It was like I was too dumb to find a seat,'' she said.
Fuller, who has epilepsy, said the comment upset her so much that her hands shook during the flight and that she has ''unexplained memory gaps'' about the flight. Later that night, she said, she had a ''grand mal seizure'' and was bedridden for three days. Because she did not have health insurance, she did not seek medical attention, she said.
After Sawyer and Fuller complained to Southwest, the airline investigated the incident and asked Cundiff to write a report.
In her report, Cundiff wrote, ''The statement I made on Flight 524 was not racist or discriminating, and I am offended that because I have white skin suddenly I am a racist. Maybe those that run around pointing fingers yelling racist should stop and turn that finger around.''
Cundiff, according to court documents, had used the rhyme on other flights after learning it from co-workers who, like other Southwest attendants, frequently employ humor on flights. Cundiff, who grew up in Texas, said she only used the rhyme when flights were full and passengers were in the aisle.
According to court documents, Southwest did not believe the phrase was racist and did not reprimand Cundiff or ask her to stop using it. However, Cundiff no longer uses it because of the incident.
Sawyer and Fuller filed the lawsuit, without an attorney, in August 2001 after they didn't get a satisfactory response from Southwest.
Scott A. Wissel, a lawyer with the Kansas City law firm of Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, which is representing Sawyer and Fuller at no charge to them, said they are seeking injunctive relief to have Southwest stop using the rhyme and to provide employee training to prevent such things from happening again.
They are also seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.