Demetria Oblior went viral for her looks earlier this year as “Traffic Bae.”
(@demetriaobilor/Instagram)
A Las Vegas traffic reporter decided to share an email that slammed her voluminous, curly locks to share a lesson about not tolerating hate and was greeted with images of young girls also wearing their natural hair.
Demetria Obilor, 26, is an anchor for 8 News Now and regularly wears her hair unstraightened on air, which one viewer took issue with.
“I can’t believe hair like that can be properly cleaned and therefore [it] must smell bad,” a man by the name of Vincent wrote Oblior in a Nov. 2015 email. “I have to fast forward whenever she comes on.”
Here's one of the racist, hateful emails I've received for rocking my natural hair on TV. pic.twitter.com/oA8L6gYCyw
— Demetria Obilor (@DemetriaObilor) May 25, 2017
Oblior, whose mother is white and father is Black, tweeted that she wanted to go after the sender when she initially saw the email, but she decided against it.
“It’s not worth going back and forth via email with someone that ignorant,” she told Yahoo Beauty. “Instead, I tell high school tour groups who stop by the station about these sorts of experiences, so they can prepare themselves for what it’s going to take to work in this industry, keeping your composure and picking your battles.
“There’s nothing to be won cursing out some racist fool online.”
Since sharing the hateful email, Obilor, who said she’s been wearing her natural hair on TV for four years despite being told she wouldn’t be able to as a professional, has received lots of support.
Many declared Obilor an inspiration.
https://twitter.com/DammitPete/status/868998031865036800
@DemetriaObilor my biracial fam thanks you for rockin the natural hair! pic.twitter.com/EhMAT0ZzQT
— ibleedorangeandblue (@evansmlecTech) May 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/___Determined/status/868227568289316864
Others pointed out the issues with the email.
He clearly has never smelled our hair. Lavender…honey…fruity scents for days. Nobody’s hair smells as good as ours.
— Yasmine (@yaya12283) May 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/janine_j/status/867801162497523712
Vincent is a terrible person who probably has no hair and does smell. Your hair is amazing.
— Michael Stearne (@mstearne) May 27, 2017
Oblior felt the message, no matter how hateful, needed to be shared.
I'm so very grateful for the kindnesses people have shown me, but I think it's important to expose the hate to show it's not okay. https://t.co/fIGlji6Ezj
— Demetria Obilor (@DemetriaObilor) May 25, 2017
