Jason Derulo Claims Racism After Cops Called on AA Flight

6:06 PM PST -- A source at AA tells us the airline's most elite customers receive 3 free checked bags. However, Jason's ONE friend tried to check 19 bags.

We think we know what happened ... 7 of Jason's friends got on the scheduled flight and left one behind with all the luggage for a later flight and American would not credit 19 bags to one person.

Jason Derulo is outraged at American Airlines, saying he was disrespected, cussed out by his pilot and confronted by 15 cops after a heated incident at Miami International Airport.

Jason says he and his crew of 8 arrived at the airport for a flight to L.A. Wednesday afternoon when they tried checking nearly 20 bags. He says he's a preferred flying member -- Concierge Key -- and almost always flies American, but the AA staffer was rude and said he couldn't check his bags.

We called around and it looks like Jason and crew may have arrived too late to check the bags, so a member of his team stayed behind and tried checking the bags on a later flight.

That's when all hell broke loose. By this time, Jason and his team were on the plane and it had pulled away from the gate. His cellphone rang, and the guy he left with the bags said AA wanted to charge him $6k for the excess luggage. Jason was outraged and demanded that the plane go back to the gate so he could get off.

He says the pilot went nuts on him, and the cops were waiting as he got off. And, he says, if he wasn't Jason Derulo and instead just a random black guy, he'd be in jail.