Dark Horse Brewery in Marshall, Michigan, is receiving praise for its quick response to a racist post from one of its employees.
One of the brewery's dishwashers, Tanner Thompson, was hunting when he posted a photo to Facebook featuring an ethnic slur.
Thompson's photo featured himself and a friend posing with guns in orange hunting gear.
The caption read:
"Hunting coonn****rs in jacknasty!!"
The image was captured and shared by Facebook user Brendan Shayne Sturgill, who shared it alongside this message:
"Hey Facebook world, help make this go viral & gain some well deserved attention?"
"This is why i get tired of hearing that racism doesn't exist in 2018; & that i should just "suck it up" & keep my mouth shut when faced with these issues."
"But I won't. We understand that not all white people are racist so if this doesn't apply to you, keep calm and remain humble."
He continued:
"This is a guy I went to Marshall High school with, and he's out hunting for "Coon N****rs" in Jackson, Michigan. His name is Tanner Thompson , & he has a tattoo business. I wouldn't recommend getting any tattoos from a guy like this, nor would i associate with anyone capable of uttering such monstrosities. It's things like this that hurts your heart to witness, violence is never the answer; no matter what you believe. As human beings in 2018, we need to do better. What do you think?"
Dark Horse Brewery, where Thompson was employed, immediately released him from his position, issuing a statement saying his "repulsive" post was not reflective of their company in any way.
The company wrote:
"This is the last thing that we thought we would have to post the day after Thanksgiving & we are extremely saddened that we would ever have to do so. It was brought to our attention that an employee made an intolerant post on his personal Social Media. As soon as we were made aware, he was immediately fired. We are appalled that one of our employees (dishwasher) posted this type of statement. He has since been terminated. Dark Horse Brewing Company will not tolerate this type of behavior & we are mortified that we have been associated by this repulsive act."
Within an hour, the company's Facebook post had received over 600 likes and innumerable comments praising their strong position:
Thompson spoke to the Detroit Free Press, saying the post "should not have resulted in me losing my job since the post was non-work-related" and that the firing process was handled "poorly," with everything being done over the phone and little reason being given for his termination.
Twitter was less than sympathetic to Thompson's plight:
Public consciousness is moving in a positive direction, and instances of racism like these should be left behind.
H/T - Detroit Free Press, Facebook
@jessicachastain/Instagram
