A viral video captures a woman wearing blackface and asking where the Pride section is at a Target. It has been reported that the woman has been taken into protective custody.
A video of a Colorado woman named Ersilia Campbell went viral on Twitter and TikTok yesterday, showing Campbell in blackface at a Target. She defends her choices by saying that news anchor Lester Holt did “whiteface,” and then asks where the Pride section is.
“Oh I thought they were celebrating this and they took our flag forever,” Campbell says. “No? I was wrong. My bad.”
She then asks the people who are recording her to post the video they’ve taken of her in blackface on Facebook because her friends would “love it.”
The video was initially posted by @iceyxblues on Twitter and reposted on TikTok by @rx0rcist. On Thursday, it had over a million views.
@rx0rcist Stay safe, Denver! Video cred: iceyxblues on the bird app. #heybestie #accountability #rx0rcist #denver ♬ Original sound – Sav • PharmD, IBCLC
@rx0rcist shows screenshots of Campbell’s Facebook posts, one of which says that she was fired (and banned from) the U.S. Postal Service. In another status, she writes that “Black people all look the same” and that she believes a Black actor in Captain Phillips is trying to take over the post office where she used to work.
Campbell also went live on Facebook in blackface. In the live stream, she says, “Trump is coming,” and that she’s going to the post office to ask for a job because not it “will never recognize” her in blackface.
According to TMZ, which first reported the story, Campbell was taken into protective custody by police in Aurora, Colorado, after they determined that “she was unable to take care of herself.”
Her daughter also posted on Campbell’s Facebook account and said that her mother is going through something that she “can’t even put into words.”
“No her actions are not okay,” Campbell’s Facebook status reads. “We’ve gotten her the help she needs right now.”
Commenters on @rx0rcist’s video were appalled by Campbell’s behavior.
“The way my jaw hit the floor the second this video started,” @heavenlybooka commented.
“I have literally no words,” @emilynelson27 wrote. “That is absolutely ridiculous.”
