If you spent any time in a school, you’ve heard the story of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on an Alabama bus. Well, now there’s a modern twist on the story and it definitely left me side-eyeing a bunch of YMCA workers. A Black woman was recently kicked out of a Virginia YMCA class because she refused to move from her seat. The way the YMCA workers handled the situation is disgusting, and it’s a reminder racism is still alive in the U.S.
Tiktok user TheBerryFairy85, Brandy, shared the entire story, as well as her own opinion on the incident. You see a Black lady sitting in her seat next to an elderly White woman and two YMCA employees standing in front of her. As the woman explains she isn’t going to move from her seat, the YMCA class instructor is laughing like a hyena. The male YMCA worker asks her, “So you can’t move over two feet?” The Black woman stands her ground, saying, “I am not moving over two feet.”
As it turns on, the woman wasn’t obligated to move. She arrived at the correct time for the class, and chose a seat that worked for her. The workers told her to move twice but then pans to the elderly woman next to her, saying, “But they won’t tell this lady to move.” Apparently, the elderly woman showed up to the class later than her and got to keep her seat.
To make matters worse, the female YMCA instructor loudly says in front of the class, “I’m sorry, we’re going to have to cancel our class because safety first.” She then turns to the woman and says, “I need you to move over, PLEASE.” Yes, she was actually prepared to cancel a class just because this poor woman wouldn’t move. Even though the woman sitting nearby is cursing and flipping the Black woman off. Rightfully, the lady calls the other women “Karens.”
“Now they’re bringing the black people here to make me move,” the lady says. You see another YMCA instructor, Jordan, get involved and is also Black. He argues she’s “derailing” the class and that it’s a “family organization,” except it doesn’t feel very friendly.
YMCA South Boston issued a response on the matter, saying, “We are taking this very seriously.” They claim, “What unfolded at that time fell short of the safe and welcoming environment we strive to create.”
“So if the instructor the only one with a reserved spot then why they making her leave? That doesn’t make sense. If that was the case they should’ve made both ladies move, period,” one commenter realized. Funny how their logic falls apart when you examine it with a single brain cell.
The way YMCA employees handled this was absolutely gross, and I’m so glad people are recording these racist encounters. Racism is still very much alive in the U.S. As one commenter put it: “The entire program needs to be revamped because them old Betty’s been there so long they think they own the place.” Too true!
