Editor’s note: This article contains social media posts that some may find offensive.
A racist antagonizer of the Black Lives Matter movement has been fired after his words wrote a check that his ass couldn't cash.
Shanelle Matthews, director of communications with the Black Lives Matter organization, was verbally attacked on Facebook by Corey Multer, a managing director of New York Life Insurance Co.
Multer wrote:
You f—king racist pig whore. The world would be a much better place if you jumped in front of a moving train. Die!
Matthews posted a screenshot of the attack with the following caption:
The rhetoric notwithstanding, I am unhinged by Mr. Multer’s arrogance.
Before messaging me, he didn’t create an alias or try in any visible way to conceal his identity or make private the details of his place of employment. Which, by the way, lauds their efforts on diversity and inclusion and ranks 61st on the 2016 Fortune 500 list with $550 billion in total assets. With a few quick strokes of the keyboard, you can easily find the names of his family members – even his marriage announcement in the New York Times from 1993.
…
What Mr. Multer’s vicious remarks actually say is that my values and beliefs are not only wrong and unvalued but that I deserve to die because of them. The kind of genocidal philosophy that has catalyzed egregious human right’s violations across the world – some of which, I suspect, Mr. Multer staunchly decries. And this kind of white supremacists resentment and cruelty is the very reason we proclaim over and over again that BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Read Matthews’ full post below:
Matthews called for Multer to be fired and tagged New York Life on Twitter. The company responded with concern, seemingly unaware that it harbored a raging racist in its midst:
It wasn't long, however, before the company contacted Matthews and informed her that Multer had indeed been fired.
Black women in particular have faced so much hatred while standing up for the human rights of black people in this country. They have put their lives on the line time and time again, often without the structural support they need to practice self-care or navigate society in relative physical safety—if not psychological and emotional safety.
Kudos to New York Life for firing Multer. Hopefully this firing doesn't come with a revolving door and the company can serve as an example for other corporations with unapologetically racist and violent misogynists in their midst.
And since Facebook has a bad habit of suspending black users for speaking out against racism, maybe this time it will suspend someone actually guilty of racism and verbal violence against women.
We'll be here holding our collective breath.