A black journalist in Charleston, South Carolina confronted a 21-year-old white man outside of a church after the man called the reporter the N-word and a slave.
Award-winning WBTV journalist Steve Crump was in Charleston shortly after Hurricane Matthew and while wrapping an interview, a man sitting on a sidewalk outside of a church hurled a racial slur in Crump’s direction, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Crump told the newspaper Brian Eybers was recording himself on an iPad commenting on the neighbourhood when he hurled the racial slur.
“He was doing commentary of the neighbourhood,” Crump said of the Oct. 8 encounter. “Then he starts off saying, ‘There’s a black guy walking around here, no he’s a slave, no he’s the n-word.’”
Crump approached the man as his colleague filmed their interaction.
“Can you say that a little louder? Come on, what did you call me?” the journalist asks.
“I called you, sir,” Eybers replied as he sat on the sidewalk fidgeting with a lighter and a bag.
“No you did not call me sir, you called me the N-word, right?” Crump said.
“I did, I believe I did call you the N-word,” the man admitted.
The journalist then asks the man to spell the word out for him. He does.
“What gives you the right to call me that?” Crump asks.
“The Constitution of the United States does,” Eybers replied. The man had the same answer when asked why he called Crump a slave. The journalist then asked if the man felt superior.
“Yeah, this one does make me superior,” Eybers said.
The two continued the heated conversation as Crump explains to the man that if he knew the ninth and the 14 Amendment right of the Constitution (the 14th Amendment granted equal rights to slaves emancipated after the Civil War.), the two wouldn’t be having the conversation.
“You’re a f***ing idiot, you’re ignorant. So, you really are a n****r then,” Eybers said. “You’re acting n****rly.”
“And what are you?” Crump asks.
“I’m Caucasian,” the man said.
“Yeah, and does that give you a right?” the journalist asks.
“It gives me every right I f***ing need. You don’t give the right, God gave me the right,” Eybers said, pointing to the sky. “I was endowed by my creator.”
“And I’m not?” the reporters asks. “I can’t have the same lifestyle you have?”
“No you can’t,” the man says as he fiddles with what appears to be a glass pipe in one hand and a red lighter in the other.
“Why not?” Crump inquires.
“Because I don’t want you to,” Eybers said.
The video of the encounter continues as the journalist and his colleague decide they had enough of the conversation and attempted to leave the area. However, Eybers stood in front of the news van blocking the reporters from leaving.
Police were called and the man was eventually arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Charlotte Observer.