Privilege is ‘wearing $200 sneakers’ with no job, Georgia mayor says. Backlash erupts
A Georgia mayor has been criticized as racist after he wrote a Facebook post defining protesters and people who are on government assistance as “privileged.”
Mayor Benjamin Rozier of Bloomingdale wrote in a since-deleted post on the Gossip Bloomingdale GA Facebook page on Tuesday night that “Privilege is wearing $200 sneakers when you’ve never had a job,” according to WJCL, which had a screenshot of the post. He added, “Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance.”
“Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worrying about calling out of work and the consequences that accompany such behavior,” Rozier wrote. “Privilege is having as many children as you want, regardless of your employment status, and be able to send them off to daycare or school you don’t pay for...”
Protesters have been gathering across the country to call for racial equality and an end to police brutality since George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
The Gossip Bloomingdale GA page has since been deleted.
McClatchy News has reached out to Rozier for comment.
The Bloomingdale City Council and administration wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday that it doesn’t “condone or endorse” the statement made by the mayor.
“The Bloomingdale City Council wishes to state collectively that this action taken by Mayor Rozier is his action and his action alone. We in no way condone or endorse any single or collective posts made by the Mayor,” the council said in the statement. “The City of Bloomingdale is a Municipal Corporation that is charged with the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. This includes all citizens regardless of race, gender, color or creed.”
Facebook user Tony Roy wrote in response to Rozier’s comments: “you have certainly racially profiled BLACK PEOPLE with this post and I’m glad someone had the idea to screenshot it before you removed it!”
“Let me enlighten you a bit—I AM A BLACK MAN and I have NEVER been without a job so if I wear [$2] sneakers or $200 sneakers, I bought them with my hard earned money,” Roy continued.
“This is unacceptable and regardless if you condone it or not, a mayor can not effectively serve ALL constituents within their municipality harboring such bold bias,” Facebook user Antwonette S. Bulloch wrote. “To hold bias is one thing, but to hold an office and boldly post such ignorance is another. Ben Rozier City of Bloomingdale your constituents deserve better and you should do the right thing and resign!”
“And we are surprised that he’s a racist, why?!” Facebook user David Roman wrote.
Rozier received backlash in 2018 after commenting on a Facebook post of a Black man blocking cars in the road and calling another commenter a “cotton picker.”
“I read the bio of the lady (Galore) and it said she was a cotton picker at a cotton field or a cotton patch. At that point, I found that to be either humorous or weird. I replied to her, and her thread the words ‘cotton picker,’” Rozier said of his comments to WTOC.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Privilege is ‘wearing $200 sneakers’ with no job, Georgia mayor says. Backlash erupts."