It's an unfortunate fact that African-Americans are often the victims of unjust harassment and intolerance, and recently on social media, a disturbing trend has gain prevalence - namely scenes of suspicious white people calling the cops on innocent black people for no apparent reason. Over the last year we've seen a pharmacy manager call the police because a black woman tried to use a coupon, a woman who harassed a black teen selling candy, and another white woman caught on video attacking a black teenager at a public pool.
Indeed, social media has made it easier for people of colour to record these incidents and then prosecute their abusers for harassment and assault. These acts of bullying aggression have always been a feature of life for minorities, and we're only just beginning to get a sense of the scale of the problem.
The most recent example of this kind of deplorable behaviour came from the town of Charlotte in North Carolina. Sisters Leisa and Chele Garris had suffered a breakdown on the road while driving and were waiting in a parking lot for a representative from the automobile association to assist them. However, they were accosted by a white woman who lived in the nearby Camden Fairview apartment complex, who taunted and berated them before warning them that she carried a concealed firearm.
She stated: "Hi, how are you? I'm hot, I'm beautiful. I'm 51, and what are we going to talk about tonight? Being hot? Being beautiful? Being white? ... This is Myers Park, SouthPark, B*tch. Why are you up in here hanging out? Do you live here? Why do we feel that we need to be here like hanging out? Let's call 911. I want to make sure there's nothing going on here. I make $125,000 a year and I want to make sure that you're all up in here. Girl, girl, girl. I'm white. I'm girl white. I'm white." Shocked, Chele and Leisa recorded the harassment and uploaded the damning footage to Facebook, where it quickly went viral.
As a result, the woman (later identified as Susan Westwood) was later sacked from her job at cable company Spectrum Enterprise. In a later press statement, the company claimed: "The incident recorded in Charlotte is a blatant violation of Charter’s code of conduct and clearly disregards the company’s commitment to inclusion and respectful behaviour. As such, Ms Westwood’s employment with the company has been terminated, effective immediately."
Westwood has now apparently turned herself into the police after being served with outstanding warrants over the weekend by local law enforcement. A mugshot of her in police custody is currently doing the rounds on social media, and an officer at the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department has confirmed that Westwood has since been released, but has not relayed any information to the press about whether or not she was charged.