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Nickiea Johnson was in the Publix Supermarket in the Brickell neighborhood when the incident took place. Another customer bumped into her, so Johnson asked the customer to say:
"Excuse me."
Instead the woman responded with the n-word.
Johnson took out her cell phone to record the woman and followed her around the store. In the video she posted to Instagram, she confronts the woman, daring her to say it again.
"Call me an [n-word] again."
The woman responds:
"I don't have to call you one. Get away from here. I will call security, and they are on surveillance!"
The woman yells at Johnson to leave her alone, and then calls her the n-word again. As she walks away, she tells Johnson to "go back to Harlem."
The whole exchange would be surprising if it didn't seem to happen so often.
After the exchange, Johnson left the grocery store. She posted the video to her Instagram where it has been viewed thousands of times.
Johnson says she isn't looking for retribution, just to increase people's understanding.
"I felt humiliated and insulted,"
She said:
"I just pray for her. I pray for her, and I pray for any children that she is raising with that mindset."
The video has drawn all kinds of commentary and criticism. Some lauded Johnson for not yelling or starting a fight. Others felt following around another customer was harassment.
And there were also those who wanted to excuse racism.
As the video and news story circulated, more news sites picked it up. This had many offering their own opinions on the subject.
Hopefully this discussion leads to more understanding, as Johnson wanted.
Many believe that racism is making a comeback with all the stories about it lately. However, its more likely to have always been here, but cellphone cameras allow us to catch it more easily.
Just last month, a North Carolina woman called another restaurant patron the n-word. After being confronted and interviewed on the news, the woman refused to apologize and said she would use it again.
Do better, folks.
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Listen to the first episode of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!', where we explore the racially
videos that have taken the internet by storm.
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