This week, a video of a woman calling 9-1-1 went viral after she decided to be an unofficial gatekeeper for the POC community.
It's led to an extensive conversation on Twitter of white privilege and the demands that are placed on minority communities.
In the video, a man filming the encounter is attempting to gain access to an apartment building, while stating that he is visiting his aunt, who lives on the second floor.
In front of him is a white woman, who is already on the phone with 9-1-1, claiming that the man is trespassing.
The woman says:
"He will not leave the premises. He will not tell me who he's here for."
The man can be heard off-screen attempting to appease the woman, speaking loudly enough to possibly even be heard by the dispatcher on the woman's phone.
He replies repeatedly:
"I'm on the second floor. My aunt lives on the second floor."
The woman persists, stating:
"All he has to do is tell me who his aunt is."
The woman answers several questions for the dispatcher, including a brief description of what the man is wearing, as well as her assumption that he's Hispanic.
We also find out at this point in the video that the man has arrived with his two small children, who were there to visit his aunt, as well.
She also makes indirect claims about increased criminal activity in the area recently as a potential reason for her call.
The woman mutters:
"There's been a lot of theft here recently."
When the man attempts to tell the woman again where his aunt lives on the second floor, she becomes indignant and won't listen to anything else that he says.
She cuts him off, regarding where his aunt lives:
"I doubt it. I doubt it."
You can watch the full video here:
The man initially shared the video on Twitter, and it was shared shortly thereafter by Christopher Bouzy. The video quickly went viral with more than 4 million retweets.
And Twitter has not been shy about weighing in on the Internet's latest "BBQ Becky."
And it wouldn't be complete without her very own new nickname.
It's unclear from the video as to whether the apartment building was open access or a keyed entrance, and it's also unclear how the man and his children initially crossed paths with the woman at the building.
However, these details hardly matter, because the issue at hand is more about racial profiling and assuming that a man of color, with children or not, must be up to no good if he makes an appearance at an apartment building where he doesn't live.
No matter how many videos of this type go viral, shaming these racist self-proclaimed gatekeepers, it just keeps happening. Listen to George Takei's Oh Myyy Pod podcast episode on the subject, "Napping While Black," for a deep dive into what is behind this disturbing phenomenon.
@WhiteHouse/X
