A white North Carolina man, Adam Bloom, 40, was fired after he demanded identification from a black woman at a private community pool on Fourth of July and called the police when she refused. The woman, Jasmine Abhulimen, posted a Facebook video of the episode at the Glenridge Community pool in Winston-Salem. In the video, Jasmine said she was swimming with her son and accused the man of racial profiling. The video went viral and had nearly five million views as of Friday afternoon.
Bloom, pool chairman and a member of the local community homeowner’s association, asked Jasmine for proof that was a resident. First, he asked for her address and then she said he demanded ID to prove that she lived where she said she did. The cops were then called to the scene and their argument was caught on video. Jasmine posted footage of it on Facebook later. The video also shows police officers confirming that there was no rule requiring identification at the pool.
Viral Video of Racial Profiling at a Community Pool
“Where does it say that I have to show an ID?” Ms. Abhulimen said in the video, which she posted under the name Jasmine Edwards. “I’m the only black person here with my son in the pool, and he walked only to me to ask for my ID.” One of the two police officers already on the scene defended Jasmine saying that ‘if she has a card to get into the pool I believe that it should be enough.’ “I apologise for the time and the altercation that occurred,” the officer tells her. Bloom walked away without an apology.
The video prompted widespread critique, with many on social media calling for Bloom’s firing. He’d served as the Value Realisation Leader at Sonoco, according to his now deleted LinkedIn Page. Sonoco said Bloom had been with the company for five years and was a business development manager. The company fired him after learning of the incident on social media, said Brian Risinger, a company spokesman.
The company also apologised to Jasmine and her family in a statement on Friday. “We do not condone discrimination of any kind and have worked very hard to build a culture of inclusion, diversity and unity. His actions were, quite simply, unacceptable and not aligned with our culture.” The Glenridge Homeowners Association said in a statement that Mr. Bloom had also resigned as a board member and pool chairman.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 07, 2018 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).