Black musician: I was racially harassed by white hotel manager for eating yogurt
Last week, in yet another incident in which a white person is caught hurling shockingly racist abuse at a black person, a Days Inn manager yelled at black customer over a yogurt.
“Come on! Prison boy! We’ve got prison boy here!” the manager taunted Joshua October, a musician who was on tour. October posted the exchange on his Instagram.
The manager then appeared to call the cops.
Soon after the clip went viral, Days Inn announced that they'd fired the manager.
Raw Story spoke with October about his experience, whether he was shocked by the manager's action, and justice in the age of social media.
Raw Story: How did the incident start?
Joshua October: The incident started over a yogurt. I checked in on the afternoon of April 17th. I came off a long flight with all my belongings with me. I was so hungry and exhausted and after the women at the front desk had me all squared away I went into the breakfast room and grabbed some yogurt to take back to my room to hold me over until I could find a place to eat.
I wasn’t being greedy and neither of the women at the front desk had a problem with me helping myself. The next day late afternoon, I had soundcheck before my last show. I was already going through a range of emotions. As I was waiting for my Uber ride to take me to the venue I went into the breakfast room and helped myself to a yogurt as I did the day before.
The older gentleman at the front raised hell over it. Me being in a southern state I had never been in before and already full of nerves felt extremely uncomfortable being scolded at over my hunger and desire to take a yogurt that I was under the impression was free for me to take as there was no sign stating otherwise and nobody said a word to me when I took one after breakfast hours upon checking in. The back and forth between us began to escalate and I felt my anxiety starting to act up. He continued to make a scene about me taking the yogurt and in turn I put him on mute and just ate it right in front of him. I was not trying to have any sort of confrontation before my last show, but the argument escalated into what you see on the video.
Raw Story: Were you surprised that someone could be so racist in 2019?
Joshua October: Racism is still America’s biggest problem and I don’t think racism will ever die as long as there's hate in this world. I know we don’t live in utopia and people will always find something to be negative about. I have never myself experienced it on that level, so yes it took me by major surprise. Such surprise that it actually affected my entire performance and rest of the night in Virginia. I try to pursue positivity in any way that I can, but I felt under attack that day. I don’t think people are receptive to finding out their impact on other people when they judge and hate so quickly.
Raw Story: Do you think they would have believed you without video?
Joshua October: Even though there are people who don’t believe me with the video, I think people would have still believed me without the video. But there is no way I could have expressed that level of ill hate in my own words without it. What happened was so outlandish that it is nearing comedy to people even though the situation is very serious!
Raw Story: What was the role of social media, including Instagram, in fueling interest in the story?
Joshua October: Social media is such a massive part of lifestyles that it can’t be ignored. With the ease of sharing, social media is the biggest voice and outlet for engagement to be used to our advantage. We are exposed to hundreds of headlines a day sharing the ones we support constantly. People will seek out, remember, and support information that provides backing for any beliefs and assumptions they already hold. By all of us sharing our experiences, both good and bad, on social networking sites, we are able empathize with each other more than ever. My Instagram is a small looking glass into my music career and over the years I have been able to network a lot of relationships to keep advancing myself in this industry.