In October, 2021, Mary McCarthy and her then ten-year-old daughter Moira were stopped at Denver International Airport, having just arrived for the funeral of Ms. McCarthy's brother, who had died suddenly, and were told that they had been reported for "suspicious behavior": human trafficking.

Ms. McCarthy is white. Moira is Black.

"I know about racial profiling," said Ms. McCarthy, "and I know that 'suspicious' is a code word for minority."

In August, 2023, she filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines.