Have you ever mistaken the word “neighbor” for the n-word? No? Didn’t think so. Yet somehow, per a video circulating Twitter, a salesman went up to the front door of a Black residence saying he was talking to “n*ggers” in the neighborhood trying to sell whatever he was trying to sell, according to ABC 13 New.
Per the front door camera footage, the man who identified himself as Fernando, approached a house in Houston’s Acres Homes neighborhood to pitch a sale for Pink Energy, a solar panel company. When the resident, Michael, stepped out to talk to him, Fernando made a mess of his words.
“We do solar around here, and we’re just coming around talking to n*****s,” he said. “Sorry, dude. Neighbors. I apologize,” he followed with a smile.
A slip up like that ain’t so common. Michael didn’t seem to buy it either, even after watching the recording over. “But no, you can’t mistake that word. That’s not a word you mistakenly say, unless you have been saying that for a very long time,” Michael told ABC 13.
More on the situation from ABC 13:
Pink Energy sent ABC13 a statement: “Pink Energy does not comment on the activities of other companies’ employees. The shirt he is wearing is not a Pink Energy shirt and appears to have another company name on it. The individual in the video does not and has never worked for Pink Energy.”
The experience brought unexpected distress to the door of the one place Michael said he thought he and his family would not experience racism.
“It really was like, you can’t dodge it. It’s something that’s around you, in front of you, and it’ll come to your doorstep even if you don’t want it to be there,” he said.
After the encounter, Fernando walked himself down the stairs of the building and stood there with the I-just-did-some-stupid-s*** look, scratching the back of his head. That small moment of shame is my favorite part of when a racist is exposed: pure embarassment. Per usual, Twitter ate the video up.
Another user tweeted, “That word has been rolling off his tongue since he was in pampers, do you hear me?! And it was caught on a ring doorbell? Yeah, Mr. White man you’re fired.”
Apparently, he may not even work for the company he was ringing doorbells for. Lissen, don’t let the next ring be mine.