A Black family in Homewood, Alabama, was subjected to motorists shouting “white power” at one of them as she entered their home on May 15.
The racist act was captured on the family’s Ring doorbell camera.
Felita Wilson said her daughter, Jourdan Elliott, and her daughter’s boyfriend were arriving home near Valley Drive around 9:40 p.m. when a truck driving past their home slowed down and the occupants shouted white supremacist rhetoric at them. Elliott said the occupants shouted, “white power!”
“We saw a truck coming down the street but didn’t think anything of it, Elliott told WVTM13 News. “The car slowed down and [they] started screaming, ‘White power! White f—in’ power! White power!’ and just repeating as if they wanted a reaction.”
Elliott went on to say that it was too dark to see the occupants clearly, but she hopes that if anyone recognizes the person’s voice, they confront the individual.
“If they felt the need to be so bold in the middle of the night with the only two Black people they see in the middle of the street, there’s no telling what they could have done last night,” Elliott said. “We don’t know if they’re 16 -year-olds or 22-year-olds, but if there’s somebody out there that recognizes that voice and can sit them down and say, ‘Hey, this is you. I know it’s you. This is why this is wrong.’ That’s going to make a world of a difference.”
Elliott’s mother says she wondered what would have happened had they reacted to the truck’s occupants.
“If you did react, what would happen? Would they pull out a gun? Would they have shot at you? Would they have thrown something on you? Would they have thrown something at you? You just don’t know,” said Wilson. “So you’ve just got to be safe and just treat people with respect.”
Wilson also said she and her daughter would not tolerate being intimidated and harassed.
“We’re not leaving anytime soon, but we just will not tolerate being harassed and intimidated,” added Wilson.
Homewood is 80 percent white and only 12.6 percent of Homewood’s population is Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and the town has a history of discriminating against its Black residents.
“If you don’t live in this area, you’re not taking these streets as backroads. We haven’t had any issues, but things change,” Wilson said. “It makes me a little nervous because of the climate of things. That was pretty bold. This is a quiet neighborhood. It just makes you wonder about safety.”
A Black police officer with the Homewood Police Department, Victor Sims II, filed a lawsuit against the city after he was told he was being reassigned from working as a detective in the Special Investigation Unit to working as a patrol officer or school resource officer back in August 2021.
An ex-police dispatcher, Charity Howard, also filed two lawsuits against the Homewood Police Department citing discrimination. Howard claimed that after she filed the first lawsuit claiming racial discrimination, the department violated her medical leave and retaliated against her for filing the first complaint.
Homewood police launched an investigation in 2021 after four racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic letters were delivered to local businesses, including the Homewood Fire Station #1, an animal clinic, a medical office and another business. Similar letters have turned up in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
Wilson said that a sign reading “We don’t tolerate racism” was stolen from her yard in 2020, and she plans on securing her home with more lighting and more cameras following the latest incident to remain safe.
Wilson noted that her family has lived in Homewood for years and called the incident “disgusting.”
“We have lived in Homewood for years,” she wrote on Facebook. “Raised our children here and don’t intend to be harassed and most definitely not intimidated. So, if anyone happens to know who this may be please advise them that this will NOT be tolerated at all. It’s disgusting.”
The Homewood Police Department says it is investigating and have sent additional police patrols to the area.
