A Detroit businessman has closed up shop and deleted his Facebook account after using a racial slur against two Detroit Lions fans who refused to stand for the national anthem.
David Doptis, owner of a restaurant supply company in Pontiac, snapped a photo of a Black woman and her friend sitting down at the team’s home opener Sunday, Sept. 12, as fellow fans stood for “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Fox 2 Detroit reported. Doptis then posted the image to social media with the caption, “You wanna sit down for the national anthem?? You don’t like [our] country [then] get the ‘F’ outtt.”
The words “ignorant n—–s” were also plastered across the picture.
The woman in the photo, Stacey Graham, has since spoken out against the racist social media post, telling the news station she’s been sitting out the anthem since last year because she disagrees with the song’s third verse about killing Black freedmen.
“Everybody has an opinion,” said Graham, who is also a season ticket holder. “He probably could’ve stuck with ‘he wishes we would’ve stood,’ and I would’ve been like, ‘Okay’, but to write that under our picture … no words.”
On Sunday, Doptis denied posting the photo and bigoted caption but changed his story in a brief Facebook post before deleting his account. His business, Restaurant Liquidation Auctions, was also closed Monday without explanation, according to WXYZ Detroit.
Graham said she hopes the Lions will cancel the businessman’s season ticket membership or at least move her seat to another section. She said she also hopes fallout over the incident will help bring folks together.
“We’ve got to build our country back together, we’ve got to come together, whatever that may mean,” Graham told Fox 2 Detroit. “But that’s going in the opposite direction, the racial slur.
“That’s going backwards.”
