After a cargo ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26 and caused its collapse, internet trolls took to X to spout racist rhetoric against the city’s Black mayor, Brandon M. Scott.
According to WLBT News, the cargo ship Dali was traveling at a rapid speed when a mayday call was issued by the crew noting that they’d lost power minutes before the crash. The ship reportedly weighed more than 95,000 tons and sent the construction crew into the water as the bridge collapsed upon impact. At least six construction workers who had been working on the bridge are presumed dead.
Despite the tragedy, social media trolls took to X to rant about the city’s Black mayor and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives (DEI).
DEI refers to the representation of people from different backgrounds, races, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, and religions and guidelines on those used by corporations and other institutions to ensure equality. Scott was elected in the majority-Black city of Baltimore, so DEI does not apply in his case. However, that didn’t stop racists from flooding X with racist rhetoric following the crash.
Who Is Mayor Brandon M. Scott
Brandon M. Scott is the 52nd mayor of Baltimore. At the age of 27, he was one of the youngest people ever elected to the Baltimore City Council. Scott is working to end gun violence in Baltimore, restore the public’s trust in government and hopes to change Baltimore for the better.
Scott believes that violence is a public health issue and has led legislative initiatives that created comprehensive crime data sharing and online reporting of crimes by the city’s police department. The mayor is also a lifelong resident of the city.
What Did Internet Trolls Say About DEI and the Bridge Collapse?
Many racist internet trolls blamed the bridge collapse on DEI and “woke” ideology. One user posted a diagram with the N-word along with the words “CRT” (critical race theory), “Woke” and “DEI” and claimed “Ni**ers” controlled the political cycle.
Several X users also condemned Mayor Scott for wearing a letterman jacket with the city of Baltimore logo while speaking to the press about the tragedy at an early morning press conference and implied that he wasn’t properly dressed. They also called him the “DEI Mayor,” a “drug dealer” and “trash.”
“Vote ghetto and get trash,” wrote one in response to Scott’s Letterman jacket. “Looks like the kind of guy who would try to
bum a cigarette from you outside the gas station,” another X user wrote.
Several X users pushed back against the trolls, and one noted that racism is so ingrained in the views of conservatives that they blame Black people and other minorities for society’s problems.
“Their obsession with DEI is nothing more than a euphemism for their white victimhood,” added another. “A bridge collapsed and racism reared its ugly head. My God, this world is nasty and vile,” echoed another.
“They are uncomfortable with a young, Black man being in charge,” replied another. One X user noted that white politicians also dress down when addressing tragedies at the site. “No one is coming to a disaster area with suit on- especially in the middle of the night,” they wrote.
Another replied, “DEI is now a racial slur. What have we learned? A word is less important than the intention behind it. As a result, White people will always find a new way to call us DEIs.”
One X user aptly noted that Maryland has a Black governor, Democrat Wes Moore, a Black mayor, a Black speaker of the House of Delegates, Adrienne A. Jones, and a Black attorney general, Anthony Brown.
Scott responded to the rhetoric on Instagram after comedian D.L. Hughley reminded folks that to Republicans, DEI means Black. “Just so we’re CLEAR… “DEI” means BLACK in Republican! #TeamDL.”
“We know what they want to say,” replied Scott. “But we also know that they don’t have the courage to. Nothing they can say or do to me is worse than what they did to my ancestors. My pride in who I am and what I come from, along with my refusal to give into their shallow world views, scares them.”
