Last week as a group of Black boys, who are known for their entertaining drum performances on plastic buckets, were performing in downtown Nashville, members of a neo-Nazi group started harassing the crew and shouting racial slurs.
Video of the incident is shown below:
The neo-Nazi group is seen wearing shirts that read, “Whites Against Replacement” on the back. Despite the harassment, the young boys attempted to stand up for themselves.
When local police came to escort the group of performers, one of the neo-Nazi members could be heard asking, “Are you allowed to let these little n*glets make threats? Can you arrest the n*glets? They have to accompany the n*glets to town.”
Days after the video was spread across social media, Tennessee state representatives Justin Jones and G.A. Hardaway have spoken out against the rising presence of hate groups in the state, according to FOX 17 Nashville.
During a press conference on July 24, Rep. Jones said, “White nationalists verbally attacked and tried to intimidate these brilliant, beautiful, powerful young Black boys who were simply trying to play drums, and simply trying to enjoy their summer break like any other child.”
He later added, “We know that this is about a deeper systemic issue and about a deeper threat that we’re experiencing in our state and in our city right now, with the increasing rise of white nationalist terror that is targeting our children now.”
Along with Rep. Jones, one of the boys’ mothers, Ashton Lee, spoke at the news conference, saying, “It wasn’t right. moved to this city, which is supposed to be free. And it happened anyway.”
According to FOX 17, Lee only learned that her son and his friends were the ones being harassed by the neo-Nazi group after seeing the video on social media.