This summer has been filled with blatant instances of public racism going viral. Besides all the other racist things that don’t reach viral internet status, there's been #BBQBecky and #PermitPatty, and even residents who called the police on a black firefighter doing his job. Now there's the story of a white man who questioned a black family’s use of a private North Carolina neighborhood pool. The man, who served as chairman of the pool (whatever the hell that means), has been forced to resign from the homeowners association board and, much more importantly, has now lost his job, according to a statement released by the company. For the record: this one is being called "#PoolPatrolPaul" and "ID Adam."
Watching this exchange, I'm curious why this this dude's swipe card and ID wasn't checked as well. #PoolPatrolPaul https://t.co/km16bdYU1D
The video, originally posted to Facebook on July 4, shows Adam Bloom asking Jasmine Edwards whether she was allowed to be in the pool. He called the police, who eventually determined that Edwards did, in fact, have the appropriate access to the gated pool. The incident led Edwards to feel singled out for her race, and even though the officers apologized to her, Bloom never did.
The video quickly went viral. With social media pressure mounting, Sonoco, the company Bloom worked for, fired him. In a statement posted on Twitter, the company called the situation “a terrible incident” and said Bloom’s actions did “not reflect the core values of our company.”
We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one our employees outside of the workplace, and we have released this statement. pic.twitter.com/vl8Vk4ykoc
John Vermitsky, Bloom’s lawyer, told theWinston-Salem Journal that his client called the cops to “make sure that the interaction didn’t escalate.” He added that it’s “unfortunate that conclusions are being reached by people who have seen a 46-second video of their interaction.”
The Glenridge Homeowners Association announced on Thursday that Bloom had stepped down from his positions in the group. In a statement, the association said Bloom “escalated a situation in a way that does not reflect the inclusive values Glenridge seeks to uphold as a community.”
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports that Police Chief Catrina Thompson advised that her officers “will not be used as pawns to further someone’s dislike for anyone.”
