A New Jersey woman was arrested on Monday after a video showed her shouting racial slurs at a Black woman on a public sidewalk, according to multiple reports.
The video, which was uploaded to Facebook by 40-year-old Tameka Bordeaux, shows Bordeaux being accosted by an older woman on the street near her residence in Bayonne, New Jersey.
According to Bordeaux, the woman followed her for several blocks while repeatedly calling her the N-word.
Eventually, the video shows a passerby intervening and asking the woman, “Why do you keep following her?” The passerby also instructs the woman to “go that way,” to which she eventually complies.
Many who viewed the video on Facebook condemned the woman’s behavior and praised Bordeaux’s handling of the situation.
“You handled this with such grace and dignity that I hope she and her entire family are shamed by her actions,” user Tamika McKoy commented.
Others also commented about how there is a “double standard” in the way Black people handling situations of racial discrimination and harrasment.
“I’m grateful for the white allies who intervened, but so sorry that you can’t safely advocate for yourself without placing your own life and freedom on the line,” user Neelima Sapre wrote.
New Jersey Assemblywoman Angela McKnight issued a statement to Facebook following the incident stating how she watched the footage in “complete outrage and disgust.”
“We know Bayonne has a history of racist behavior and we can no longer sit by and make excuses for residents in any New Jersey town to ever be allowed to call someone the N word,” McKnight wrote.
New Jersey state Sen. Sandra Cunningham issued a statement, denouncing the video as “appalling.”
“As a Black woman, it is beyond sad and frustrating to have to still listen to this kind of shameful and offensive language as we embark on a new year,” Cunningham wrote.
After Bordeaux turned the footage over to the Bayonne Police Department, authorities later identified the woman as 60-year-old Claudia Emanuele. She was arrested and taken into custody on Monday, according to local station WABC-TV.
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