Last week, a video went viral that showed an elderly white woman attacking African-American U.S soldiers and was a clear indicator of the ugliness and hate that people feel comfortable displaying in this Trump era.
While two U.S Army Reserve captains, 27-year-old Treasure Sharpe and 34-year-old Stephanie Mithcell, were walking into Cheddar’s in Macon, GA, 71-year-old Judy Tucker and her son Robbie were angry with the two soldiers over an incident in the parking lot. As they walked, Tucker and her son began to make obscene comments and racial slurs towards them. Robbie called them “dumb b–ches” and “Black lesbian b–ches” made the comment “I didn’t know they allowed lesbians to serve.” This conflict continued into the restaurant and that’s where the video starts.
Tucker was later arrested and charged with battery. She reportedly lost her job at Mercer University as well. Cheddars restaurant later released a statement saying that the Tucker family has been banned from their establishment.
“We were appalled by the behavior of the individuals who confronted the two female service members. Such behavior flies in the face of our values and those individuals are no longer welcome in our restaurant.”
I got to speak to one of the soldiers from the video about this awful experience. Though she can’t be directly quoted, she was able to be open and candid about her viral encounter.
She said even though this experience has been overwhelming for her, she is glad that it was caught on video.
“Being black in America means that we don’t have the right to fight back. Our only line of defense when things like this happen is to record for proof.”
Read the rest over at MadameNoire
tanay hudson, the journalist 