Geminia Aimable (left) said her first reaction to the man was anger, then fear. (Image courtesy of Facebook)
South Florida police are investigating after a U.S. National Guard soldier said she was stalked and called the N-word while in uniform.
National Guard private Geminia Aimable, who posted about the harrowing ordeal on social media Tuesday, Oct. 10, said she was driving through a Florida suburb when a white man in a green shirt and sunglasses cut her off in traffic. She said the man proceeded to follow her and then got out of his car to curse her out after she had stopped at a red light.
https://twitter.com/lexi4prez/status/918235178321022978
“He comes banging on my window cursing me out … and proceeding to call me a nigger,” Aimable, 19, wrote in a Facebook post that has since gone viral. ” [He] told me to never forget that I am nothing but a n—-r and that us n—-rs do not deserve to serve this very country and to take off my uniform and to kill myself.”
“I cannot believe that he said that to me,” she added. “He told me it pisses him off that we as African Americans are allowed to be in the military.”
For Aimable, it was her first brush with blatant racism, she wrote.
The social media uproar has since sparked an investigation by Wilton Manors Police, the Miami New Times reported. Department spokesperson Jennifer Bickhardt said authorities were made aware of the incident and have detectives actively investigating the matter. There is no video or police report filed on the incident.
“We have been notified through all the Facebook likes and comments,” Bickhardt told the news site. “It’s a terrible posting, so we are looking into it.”
In an interview with Raw Story, Aimable, who is also a cashier at Publix, said it took everything in her not to snap back at the man, adding that her first reaction was one of anger, and then fear.
“I wanted to fight him. I wanted to make him take those words back,” she said. “I also remembered that I am in uniform and I must conduct myself accordingly. Also, I, as an African American or a n—-r in his sense, I tend to be stereotyped as violent, so why fulfill their stereotypes?”
She also told the news site she supports prominent athletes like Colin Kaepernick who kneel to protest racial injustice in America and doesn’t see it as an insult to the flag or service members, as critics have claimed.
“I will never forget that I am not only a soldier but also a minority that’s fighting for this country that also sees that racism is still a prominent issue,” Aimable said. “They can take a knee, I will continue to stand tall and proud for I fight for this very country.”
