Black camerawoman ‘not surprised’ by peanut pelting at the RNC The CNN camerawoman who was reportedly the victim of racially-motivated taunting on the floor of the Republican National Convention is speaking out about her ordeal.
“I hate that it happened, but I’m not surprised at all,” Patricia Carroll, 34, told Maynard Institute blogger Richard Prince. Prince’s blog addresses issues of racial diversity in journalism.
“This situation could happen to me at the Democratic convention or standing on the street corner,” she added. “Racism is a global issue.”
According to reports, Carroll was pelted with peanuts by a couple GOP convention attendees while covering the proceedings. She was allegedly told, “This is how we feed animals.”
CNN acknowledged that an incident took place and the RNC removed the two individuals who were allegedly responsible.
“Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior,” convention spokesman Kyle Downey told The Hill. “Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated.”
For her part, Carroll, who is a 34-year-old Alabama native, says this kind of behavior is often spurred by a lack of diversity.
“This is Florida, and I’m from the Deep South,” said Carroll. “You come to places like this, you can count the black people on your hand. They see us doing things they don’t think I should do.”
She then pointed out that “there are not many black women” at the RNC.
“I can’t change these people’s hearts and minds,” Carroll added. “No, it doesn’t feel good. But I know who I am. I’m a proud black woman. A lot of black people are upset. This should be a wake-up call to black people…. People were living in euphoria for a while. People think we’ve gone further than we have.”
http://thegrio.com/2012/08/30/black-camerawoman-not-surprised-by-peanut-pelting-at-the-rnc/
