For some, racism is seen as something that only lives in the South. That is a false impression, because racism is still alive and prospering among the majority of men and women who currently support Donald Trump. After POTUS unleashed his hate speech across the country, incidents of rippling hate speech and hate crimes have increased all over the country. Another ugly example just happened in Minneapolis.
A photo of a “racist and derogatory” Christmas tree went viral in this tweet:
‘This is a photo of a racist and derogatory Christmas tree at the Minneapolis 4th precinct.
@jeremiah4north@CunninghamMPLS@Jacob_Frey We must demand an apology and commitment to build better community relations. This is unacceptable’
Two city police officers were placed on leave after they decorated a racist Christmas tree in Minneapolis’ Fourth Precinct, which has a majority-black population. The tree was taken down immediately, but not before a photo of it hit social media.
The police department will investigate the racist decorations, according to The Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
‘Two officers decorated a tree in the city’s majority-black Fourth Precinct with a pack of Newport cigarettes, a piece of yellow crime scene tape, bags of Takis, empty cans of malt liquor, a cup from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and other items of trash.’
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo responded to the incident saying he:
‘Initiated a full investigation (and was) ashamed and appalled by the behavior of those who would feel comfortable to act in such a manner that goes against our core department values of Trust, Accountability and Professional Service.’
The Fourth Precinct has been on edge since the 2015 fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man, Jamar Clark in 2015.
Twitter world heated up with this one. Check out some of our favorites below:
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
