A little more than a year ago, on Tim Duncan’s 39th birthday, former NBA player and current radio host, book author and activist Etan Thomas shared a great story on Facebook about how Duncan is “one of the nicest guys” he’s ever met; It has about 300 shares and 55 comments.
On Friday, Etan posted a photo and story about a woman he claims did not want to give up a seat next to her because of his race. And minutes later, gave up the seat to a white guy, who also ended up in Etan’s public photo even though he offered to give up and was called a “nice guy.” Etan then confronted the woman, who has now been labeled a racist after Thomas’ post has been shared over 34,000 times on Facebook and become a viral story across the internet with tens of thousands of comments.
Ok so I’m getting on the train and there are no open seats and I ask this lady if I could sit next to her (very politely and I soften my voice as to not frighten her) and she says someone is sitting here. So I go to the next seat. Now, less than 2 mins later a man (who happens to be white) asks if he can sit there and she says why sure let me move my stuff. So I have to say something so I ask ummmmm did you just not want ME to sit next to you ? Were you scared ? Not comfortable with a Black Man sitting next to you ? And she says lol smh don’t pull the race card stuff with me I dated a Black guy in college. So the guy (who was a nice guy) said listen I’ll get up and I said no need I’mma just take this pic and make a Facebook post about it. So then she says did you just take a pic of me ? Well I’m going to tell the conductor that you’re over here illegally taking pics of ppl without their consent. So the conductor came up and said hey Etan Thomas love what you’re doing in the community loved you with the Wizards big Cuse fan man the Knicks sure could use you …. And I said was there something you wanted to tell my man ? And she rolled her eyes smh some ppl I tell ya.
The controversial story has generated some interesting debates among split audiences on social media.
- Was the woman being racist or could there be another reason why she didn’t want Thomas to sit by her?
- Would you say “no” to a 6’10 250+ pound man or woman if they politely asked to sit by you?
- Is it ok to “shame” people like her on the internet, especially if you have a celebrity status?
- Was Thomas wrong for posting her pic?
- Was Thomas wrong for posting the man’s pic?
- If you were either, would you pursue legal action against Thomas?
- Do you believe the conductor is that knowledgeable of a basketball fan?
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