A man claiming to work for Black Lives Matter filmed himself accosting a woman on the street in New York City, ordering her to kneel and apologize for her white privilege. Her compliance has the internet speculating feverishly.
While it was pretty clear the cameraman didn’t actually “work for Black Lives Matter” - he claimed to have been sent by its “CEO,” and BLM doesn’t have a CEO - the rest of the clip - seen over 1.4 million times - was open to interpretation. Was the woman just playing along? Unbelievably gullible? Genuinely frightened?
While it was difficult to read her facial expressions due to the surgical mask she was wearing and the fact that her head was often out of frame, the white woman appeared to react with fright to the sudden appearance of the cameraman, who ran across the street to stop her. However, she was quick to follow his instructions, kneeling on the sidewalk almost as soon as he asked. She claimed to be struggling to find the “right words” for an apology, and even thanked him before hurrying off - even after he referred to President Donald Trump as “Donald Duck.”
Some viewers smelled a rat, suggesting it was “too scripted to be true.”
Agreed.But I am certain there are plenty of morons out there that would do this.
— CAforTrump♥ (@CLiberty4) June 2, 2020
Others found it disturbing, convinced the woman was genuinely afraid - either of the cameraman or of what might happen if she refused to follow his orders and footage of the encounter was posted online.
As someone in the midst of training a dog to sit, kneel, stay and roll over using hand motions, this is particularly disturbing: pic.twitter.com/eelNcsfmqw
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) June 2, 2020
She’s probably terrified that if she doesn’t do as she’s told her face will be all over the internet, labelled a racist and lose her job
— Pete