Postal Worker Secretly Films Customer's Racist Rant
November 12, 2010 7:00 AM   Subscribe

"Things got ugly when a black mail carrier refused to take back a letter he'd delivered to a lady in Hingham, Mass. She went on a racist rant and slapped him. He secretly taped it all on his cell phone. ... She calls him 'Fucking n*gger thief.' "She quickly qualifies: 'I'm not prejudiced but right now I'm getting real pissed off.' Then everything she says afterward is so racist it would make George Wallace blush. Finally she slaps him.'"*
"He claims he was fired over the incident:
'This woman is outrageous — I am still waiting for US Postal Inspection Service to investigate this matter. it has been a year since postmaster fired me for this racist lady, and Hingham court let her go free, no trial.'
He promises 'More videos are yet to come.'"
posted by ericb (62 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Random crazy racist woman establishes herself as shitheel on camera, sure, why is this good for the front page of mefi? -- cortex



 
Reddit thread.
posted by ericb at 7:02 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Pretty small for a tea party rally, isn't it?
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:04 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


A White Lady Slapped My Black Mailman.
posted by entropone at 7:06 AM on November 12, 2010 [6 favorites]


Wow. That lady is fucking insane.
posted by youthenrage at 7:07 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Terrible person acts terribly. Caught on video.
posted by availablelight at 7:07 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


Found something cool on the Web?

Come on, this is pure "look at this awful person, they're awful amirite?"
posted by Gator at 7:09 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Her: *smack*
Him: aaaaauuuughghgh! *pause* Ma'am, why are you slapping me?

Wow.
posted by DU at 7:10 AM on November 12, 2010


Is there a point to this other than camera cell phone outragefilter?
posted by blucevalo at 7:10 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


This is the part where her life gets ruined and I don't give a shit.
posted by black rainbows at 7:10 AM on November 12, 2010 [10 favorites]


"While getting fired over this incident seems outrageous, it is worth noting that Massachusetts is a so-called 'two-party' state, which means that one cannot legally record audio (you can video) without both persons consent."*
posted by ericb at 7:11 AM on November 12, 2010


The USPS is all kinds of fucked up. My father got a job there in the early 90s when the job market was pretty tough, and he was glad to get it. In his first week, he was bitten by a dog on his route - the USPS fired him because they "felt it showed a negative trend."
posted by HopperFan at 7:11 AM on November 12, 2010 [6 favorites]


They're both equally wrong.

She was wrong to be racist, hateful and violent and he was wrong to be black.
posted by mazola at 7:11 AM on November 12, 2010 [8 favorites]


How does he have time to capture it all on his cell phone - does he record his entire postal life, or what? Does anyone have any independent news source that verifies this incident?
posted by shivohum at 7:11 AM on November 12, 2010


She seems potentially a little psychotic. But maybe not - she might be just incredibly mean and ignorant, extremely so.

Need more information. I can't glean much from the reddit comments - is there a news story yet? On what grounds was he fired? Why did he start videoing this? It seemed like things weren't all that nutso at the point at which he started recording. Had he had some prior interchange with this person that led him to think he'd better start the camera? Does he just video everything? How did he manage to get the pictures without her noticing?

Certainly looks like intense bullying and an unfair dismissal from here, but would still like to understand the context.

The woman's address is now all over YouTube.
posted by Miko at 7:13 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


My mouth was just hanging open. Somehow the "White people are going to kill you" part didn't do it, but I had to stop at "You killed Martin Luther King."
posted by Madamina at 7:13 AM on November 12, 2010


In my fantasy world she would be charged with assaulting a federal employee and the case would be handled swiftly and professionally by the efficient and unbiased federal court system we have in place.


:(
posted by 2bucksplus at 7:13 AM on November 12, 2010 [6 favorites]


Massachusetts is a so-called 'two-party' state...

In related news: Boston Police Fight Cellphone Recordings -- "Witnesses taking audio of officers arrested, charged with illegal surveillance."
posted by ericb at 7:14 AM on November 12, 2010


from a site that is alleged to be hers, which i won't link to

"Are you convincing?

Are you comfortable speaking in front of groups and one-on-one?


well, she's quite convincing and comfortable, isn't she?
posted by pyramid termite at 7:16 AM on November 12, 2010


"this postal customer used to babysit the officer's kid who came at the scene. I've just learned both the police department and the court have dropped the case, she is free, and no charges against her. I was never sent a noticed by the court to appear for hearing nor trial. And a a year since that happened, USPS postal inspection service has not investigated this matter" -- Youtube comment by the man in the video. (on reddit). The postman was reportedly fired a year ago. And out of frustration that his case wasn't being heard, and that was he was apparently penalized for the incident (pre-interent posting), posted the video about a month ago.
posted by raztaj at 7:17 AM on November 12, 2010


It's already been picked up by a handful of blogs, and dozens of Youtube comments are calling for blood, including one that reads, ominously: "4CHAN FIND HER!!"

Oh Christ ...
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:17 AM on November 12, 2010


Let me know when this hits 4Chan, so I can make my popcorn.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 7:18 AM on November 12, 2010


Oh Christ ...

Really? Some bigoted, ignorant, mean as fuck old lady harasses and assaults a black USPS employee after he correctly refuses to take back mail that she signed for gets him fired from his job, the case against her gets somehow dropped with no trial, USPS refuses to investigate, and all you have to say is "Oh Christ" because 4chan may find her?

Fuck all that, yo. A public name and shame is what's badly needed at this point. That fucking mean old lady needs to get back what she dealt out, and more besides.
posted by splice at 7:22 AM on November 12, 2010 [11 favorites]


"Sometimes, I don't think people can see themselves," says the director of The Speech Company, Erica Winchester...

You got that right, sister.
posted by DU at 7:23 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


A public name and shame is what's badly needed at this point.

I find it interesting that people are attempting to do just that, yet folks often have problems with the government use of cameras, even for stuff as simple as keeping an eye on red lights.
posted by nomadicink at 7:24 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


USPS refuses to investigate

This doesn't sound right to me. I used to have a friend who worked for the Post Office. He said that they loved it when people would be threatening, because the postal inspectors took those events, very, very seriously.
posted by Forktine at 7:26 AM on November 12, 2010


I don't think people should be racist.
posted by Joe Beese at 7:26 AM on November 12, 2010


I stand by my "Oh, Christ ...". We do not live in a vigilante society. This dispute is better settled in court; not by a gang of bored teenagers on an imageboard.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:26 AM on November 12, 2010 [4 favorites]


It does seem a *tiny* bit suspicious that the person who goes on the verbal rant just happens to be a professional speech coach.
posted by DU at 7:27 AM on November 12, 2010


"While getting fired over this incident seems outrageous, it is worth noting that Massachusetts is a so-called 'two-party' state, which means that one cannot legally record audio (you can video) without both persons consent."*

I'd be very surprised if this is the case in a public space, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Anybody here know?

And I'm not clear why he hasn't charged her with assault. Attacking a mailman is a pretty serious charge. A federal crime, if I'm not mistaken.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:28 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


I find it interesting that people are attempting to do just that, yet folks often have problems with the government use of cameras, even for stuff as simple as keeping an eye on red lights.

First you'll need to show a substantial overlap between those groups. Otherwise that's not evidence of hypocrisy, just different people with different opinions.

Second, there's a big difference between the power of a private citizens to shame someone on the internet and the power of the state to, you know, prosecute people for crimes. Shame will not put this woman in a jail cell, nor will it use the power of the state to exact a fine. Shame will not force her to say "yes" to criminal record questions on a job application. Shame will not deny her the right to vote in many states.

So kind of apples and oranges, so long as the internet mob stays within the bounds of the law itself, which I'll grant it sometimes does not do, and that's a problem that needs addressing.
posted by jedicus at 7:29 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


I stand by my "Oh, Christ ...". We do not live in a vigilante society. This dispute is better settled in court; not by a gang of bored teenagers on an imageboard.

Vigilante, to me, implies performing illegal behavior as retribution. Is it vigilantism if the vengeful acts are legal? Could that be better than, say, a governing entity that offers "justice" in the form of things that would not otherwise be legal?

I'm not sure. Food for thought.
posted by entropone at 7:30 AM on November 12, 2010


I see you standing right there like a racist fool and I'm like fuck you and your mailbox too.
posted by punkfloyd at 7:31 AM on November 12, 2010 [5 favorites]


Holy crap.

I mean, seriously, holy crap. This happened. Wow.
posted by andreaazure at 7:31 AM on November 12, 2010


I don't get it...she wants him to take back a letter that he has delivered TO her? Why doesn't she just throw it away if she doesn't want it? What am I missing here?

Oh, and the racist violence and unfair firing sucks too.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 7:33 AM on November 12, 2010


I don't think people should be racist.

Racistist.
posted by joe lisboa at 7:33 AM on November 12, 2010 [7 favorites]


I'd be very surprised if this is the case in a public space, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Anybody here know?

It's certainly true of the police (i.e. private citizens cannot record police even on THEIR OWN private property, let alone in a public space). And people have been charged with this recently. I don't know if it would be enforced when neither party is the police.
posted by DU at 7:33 AM on November 12, 2010


And I'm not clear why he hasn't charged her with assault. Attacking a mailman is a pretty serious charge. A federal crime, if I'm not mistaken.

He can claim he was assault all he wants, but it's the prosecutor that decides whether to charge someone. If he can't get any traction from the police and prosecutor, then that's it, criminal justice-wise.

Now, he could sue her in civil court, but I'm not sure there's much money to be had, even if he could pin the loss of his job on her.
posted by jedicus at 7:34 AM on November 12, 2010


At least we finally know who killed Martin Luther King.

Some mailman.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:34 AM on November 12, 2010 [5 favorites]


Where the hell is the union in all this? Our letter carrier (now retired) was a union delegate and kept us filled in on the latest management outrages. Where's this guy's union?

There's got to be more to this story.

I decided long ago that mobbing any individual via the web is wrong. In all instances.
posted by warbaby at 7:34 AM on November 12, 2010 [4 favorites]


I don't think people should be racist.

See I thought that too, Joe, but she said she's not prejudiced. Go figure.
posted by condour75 at 7:36 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


Sarcasm=0...

I am worried about this getting out of hand, and quickly. c.f. Flash Mod Gone Wrong.
posted by andreaazure at 7:36 AM on November 12, 2010


We do not live in a vigilante society.

Well, actually we do, increasingly. Alas.

I'm not a fan of racist (and possibly mentally ill) old ladies who physically assault people of color. I'm also not a fan of slapping someone's home address on the internet for fun, amusement, harassment, and possible violence or worse.
posted by blucevalo at 7:36 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


I don't get it...she wants him to take back a letter that he has delivered TO her? Why doesn't she just throw it away if she doesn't want it? What am I missing here?

It was a certified letter addressed to her husband that someone needed to sign for. What she didn't seem to understand is that only someone needs to sign for it, not the addressee. If a particular person's signature is required, that can be done, but by default any signature will do.

Basically she's ignorant as well as racist and violent. It didn't help that the postal service rules probably put the mail carrier between a rock and a hard place: either risk getting fired because of this crazy altercation or risk getting fired for not delivering the letter.
posted by jedicus at 7:38 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


I don't get it...she wants him to take back a letter that he has delivered TO her? Why doesn't she just throw it away if she doesn't want it? What am I missing here?

It was a registered letter for her husband. By signing it, she is giving proof back to the mailer that the letter was received. The letter probably says something like, "You are being sued," or "You owe us $10,000."

She realized after she signed it that now she and her husband wouldn't be able to evade the consequences, i.e., saying "We never got your letter..."

That's why registered mail exists. Also why there are no backsies.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 7:38 AM on November 12, 2010 [10 favorites]


everybody outraged here knows that people of color have it harder then the rest of us every single day in the US, right? you know the courts, prison system, schools, health care and job market all favor white over black, right? OK, cool. rage on against the nutzo suburban white lady.
posted by victors at 7:38 AM on November 12, 2010 [3 favorites]


I heard that she copies and posts other people's recipes on the Internet WITHOUT ASKING!
posted by briank at 7:41 AM on November 12, 2010


I'm not ready to write her off as crazy. She's using racism to bully a black man into doing what she wants. That's not madness. That's somebody talking advantage of racism, which is why racism is appealing to a lot of white people. It gives them an edge. I wonder how often this happens when the camera is not on?
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:42 AM on November 12, 2010 [4 favorites]


"Where the hell is the union in all this?"

I can't speak to this guy's situation, but in my dad's case, he was still in his probationary period, and the union couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything to prevent him from being fired.
posted by HopperFan at 7:42 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


As an employer, The United States Postal Service is evil. My father has worked for them as a letter carrier since 1986, and I hate them. They are actively hostile against their employees. What he likes about his job is the chance to be outdoors and interact with the pleasant, grateful customers who make up the vast majority of his route.

Now this woman, she's just mean, racist, and violent. These people are everywhere. What makes this a story, in my opinion, is the fact that HE was fired and the fact that according to him, there is corruption in the court which has led to her going scot free.

I have no difficulty at all believing that the USPS would fire him for some bogus reason. They are corrupt and hateful, and like to set up little dictatorships in every station with the supervisors who are encouraged to be as bad and arrogant as possible. An employee who makes any kind of waves is not just to be smacked down, but destroyed if possible. My dad's current mean and nasty supervisor has been physically beaten, had her car destroyed, and had a gun waved at her, by three different beleaguered employees, all in the past 18 months. I felt pity for her, until my dad was in a serious car accident and when I called to tell her he was in the hospital her words were, "well tell him he can't miss too much work" and that was IT. I now see she is toxic, just like so many of the others. What is the post office doing about this station which is nearly in revolt? Punishing everyone by moving them into a smaller, older warehouse-like building. And giving the supervisor even more responsibility.

I also have no difficulty believing that a small town court let a racist, violent white woman get away with assaulting a black man. I'd be shocked if it were otherwise.

But while people (on Youtube) are getting up in arms and want to perpetrate some internet justice on this woman, the truly evil entities are getting away without much comment. In fact, people are already making excuses for the system.
posted by Danila at 7:42 AM on November 12, 2010 [6 favorites]


THIS WOMAN IN THE VIDEO IS MY NIECE. OUR FAMILY IS NOT RACIST. STOP POSTING HER ADDRESS. SHE IS NOT A RACIST. THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT.
PEOPLE ARE SENDING PIZZAS AND THE POLICE WILL INVESTIGATE
posted by fixedgear at 7:44 AM on November 12, 2010


I find it interesting that people are attempting to do just that, yet folks often have problems with the government use of cameras, even for stuff as simple as keeping an eye on red lights.

The government works for me. They are my employees paid by my tax dollars. I hired them to perform work that is in my best interest. If I think they are not doing the job I paid them to do, I'll install cameras, GPS tracking, or whatever it takes to keep them in line and do their job correctly. Harassing public servants when they aren't working is an entirely different matter; this is only about making sure I get a full day's work and root out corruption.

My employees cannot tell me that it's illegal for me to keep them in line. They cannot tell me it's illegal to hold them to account. That's entirely the point of the Fourth Estate, and once the Fourth Estate stops enforcing transparency and keeping politicians and officers of the law in line, I will do whatever is necessary to continue that work. Serving the public as a member of any level of government is a privilege, not a right.

Getting back to this situation, you have a gentlemen who tried official channels to obtain justice and is not satisfied with the results. Taking your argument public is an American tradition, and not one to be maligned.

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."
–Thomas Jefferson
posted by notion at 7:45 AM on November 12, 2010 [4 favorites]


Wow. She has been identified publicly.
posted by punkfloyd at 7:45 AM on November 12, 2010


I'm surely not ready to write her off as crazy either. That's why I said "possibly."

There is a surfeit of hateful-assed rage-filled people in the world.
posted by blucevalo at 7:46 AM on November 12, 2010


I'm from the town next door, and, unfortunately, am not surprised that this kind of behavior came from Hingham. The town is overwhelmingly white and very well-off. While it's a pretty liberal place in a very blue state, I've always felt an undercurrent of "we're better than you" when I've been in the town. That's not to say that everyone is like that, of course, but I've seen it firsthand more than once.

I served on a jury in a civil trial in Hingham in 2007 at the age of 19. I was excited for the experience, but came away from it cynical about the justice system. A well-off local real estate agent was suing a struggling gas station. The overhead door to the garage had fallen on his head and he had been injured. To make a long story short, it would have been clear to any outside observer that he was exaggerating, and perhaps even making parts of the story up (he changed significant details in his testimony over the course of the three day trial). The dentist who treated him and provided testimony as to how severe his injuries were turned out to be his golfing buddy.

And yet, we the jury not only sided with him, but also awarded him a substantial amount of money. Since it was a civil case, the jury didn't need to come to a unanimous decision--it just needed a majority. So all I could do was simply vote against the rest of the members of the jury, made up entirely of white, middle-class people (nearly all of whom were from Hingham). The part that really upset me, though, was that one of my fellow jurors made an off-hand remark about the gas station owners' race (they were Arab) which, to this day, makes me think that the jury decision was based on race.
posted by dcheeno at 7:48 AM on November 12, 2010 [3 favorites]


rage on against the nutzo suburban white lady.

I'm not sure what the point is. Do you mean this is representative of experiences that people of color have very frequently, not an outlier?

Regardless, because we can't be everywhere and see everything, cultural change around race can be accelerated when these narratives present the public with an event and force a public conversation about it. It's because there are many outcomes to highly publicized events - like, say, the Emmett Till murder or the Cornel West flap - that a society gets to examine its ideas about race. This time, a private citizen seems to have taken advantage of a situation in which she thought she was safe to express her racism without being accountable. Turns out that by virtue of technology, she is accountable (somehow). So we will advance the public conversation a bit - people who view this will take away, as one message, that you might not be safe to express racism even when it seems like you are. I think that's a gain, even though it's one among thousands of racist incidents that probably occurred that same day.
posted by Miko at 7:48 AM on November 12, 2010 [3 favorites]


PS: I do not condone harassing anyone at their home, but her name, photo, and racist comments are fair game for public shaming.
posted by notion at 7:49 AM on November 12, 2010


I love how she's not prejudiced. This is the most outrageous "I'm not racist, but..." example ever.
posted by windbox at 7:54 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


warbaby took the words out of my mouth: "There's got to be more to this story."

Haven't seen the video, but if the woman said crazy, racist things, well, that's - crazy. And racist. Not taking away from that, but I just can't help but believe there is a pattern of crazy behavior between these two. Kind of hard to believe the Postal Inspectors, the postal union, the local cops, and everyone in between is conspiring to deny justice to this poor, innocent soul. Who was expecting trouble so he videotaped the exchange.
posted by randomkeystrike at 7:54 AM on November 12, 2010 [1 favorite]


"PEOPLE ARE SENDING PIZZAS AND THE POLICE WILL INVESTIGATE"

That is HILARIOUS. Did you see the associated blog?

"Dusky Character Attacks My Niece, Good People Get Blamed"
posted by HopperFan at 7:56 AM on November 12, 2010 [2 favorites]


Aaah, Hingham, my hometown. How I don't miss you.
posted by buka at 7:57 AM on November 12, 2010


I'm not sure what the point is. Do you mean this is representative of experiences that people of color have very frequently, not an outlier? ...thousands of racist incidents that probably occurred that same day.

In a world where the institutions decide how free, healthy, educated and employed based on the color your skin, it struck me as odd at the level of heat and outrage attracted to this one incident. Perhaps the institutions are changed on crazy lady at a time but that doesn't sound right to me. It's Speak Truth to Power, not Speak Truth to Crazy.
posted by victors at 7:57 AM on November 12, 2010


It's because there are many outcomes to highly publicized events - like, say, the Emmett Till murder or the Cornel West flap - that a society gets to examine its ideas about race.

Apt point. As well, there was the Henry Louis Gates incident in July 2009 that led to discussions about the issue of race in America.
posted by ericb at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2010


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