The owner of Uriah’s Heating and Cooling released an apology after he was caught on tape racially harassing a Black man.
Jeffrey Whitman apologized for calling Charles Lovett a “nigger” multiples times after accusing the victim of cutting him off on the road. The business owner told ABC 6/FOX 28 on Tuesday during a phone interview that he regretted his racist words and said, “I lost my head.”
(photo credit: Fox 28 screenshot)
The confrontation between the two men occurred on Wednesday after Whitman followed Lovett to his Ohio home and approached him about who had the right away in a lane. Lovett pulled out his phone, recorded the entire incident and shared it on social media.
Whitman said to the victim, “I just want to let you know what a nigger you are.” He continued, “You’re a rude nigger.”
Lovett responded back, “So, I’m a nigger because you can’t read street signs, right?”
The two went back and forth during their disagreement and the racist man accused Lovett of cutting him off “because you feel entitled — because you get everything for free.” To which the victim shot back, “You feel entitled because I’m Black.”
The video of Lovett’s road rage encounter received over 2.4 million views and 65,000 shares. Viewers have also left multiple 1-star reviews on Yelp and called him out on his bigotry.
Whitman stated the following apology to ABC, “I apologize for my use of the n word towards Charles Lovett on Tuesday, July 24th. I understand that using the n-word was not only hurtful towards Lovett as an individual, but hurtful towards the Black community at large. Using the word was dehumanizing, unacceptable, and inexcusable.”
He added, “My actions that day are not a reflection of my feelings towards the Black community. I also understand that racial tensions in America are higher than before, and I regret my part in contributing to that tension… I realize that words are hollow without action, and because of the hurt I have caused, I hope I have the opportunity to give back to the Black community that I have harmed in a meaningful way.”
Although the racist civilian released an apology to “Lovett and the community, the Uriah’s Heating and Cooling employee initially refused to apologize and felt he didn’t say anything wrong.
He told WMCH Channel 4 in a separate interview, “I don’t know if it makes it right or wrong all I can say is I grew up with it [the word nigger] and not a big deal for me.”