This past Halloween weekend, a lot of entertaining costumes were shared on social media. But some individuals who were unable to be creative chose to be racist instead. A disturbing video is now circulating online showing a group of white teens in a Utah Walmart. In the footage, one teen is dressed as a police officer and at least three others are inmates — in full Blackface.
A bystander approached the group and began to film the racist costumes depicting Black men as prisoners. She warned them that they would not get into any colleges and added, “You guys are not gonna get any scholarships ‘cause this is a hate crime.” One of the teens responded, “We all dropped out of high school, it’s OK.” As the other kids laughed, the bystander reiterated that their actions were inappropriate. It comes as no surprise that the clip was soon posted online and gained massive attention.
On Tuesday (Nov. 1), civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump shared the video of the group in Blackface on Twitter, adding, “This is FAR from funny! Halloween is NOT an excuse to display your bigotry or make a mockery of Black people. This is absolutely disgusting.” According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the Cedar City Police Department is now working to identify those seen in the footage, which was originally posted to TikTok.
In a press release, Cedar City Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow said his deputies did not show up because they were not contacted. He added that the video of the teens in Blackface was brought to their attention after the fact. “While topics such as these can cause an emotional reaction, we encourage everyone to be mindful when sharing videos of juveniles on social media, including any cyber [bullying] or other harassment that can accompany this type of incident,” a portion of the press release said.
One person on Twitter accused some of seeing the “teenagers who dressed in Blackface and went to a Walmart [as] the *real* victims because a video of their racist stunt was posted online.” Another wrote, “Why didn’t @Walmart ask these people, who are showing up in Blackface in their store, to leave immediately????? The store employee is just looking at them.”
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