While at a grocery store in Grenada, Mississippi, a U.S. soldier says she “never experienced this much racism” until she crossed paths with one particular customer. A lady approached them and made some nasty comments about them being in the military. Then, she brought out the racism.
Posted by TikTok user _Dareallisimp, the incident occurred while she and a fellow U.S. soldier were at Walmart. An older woman said to one of the soldiers that she thought it was “funny” they were in the military. She then unloaded a really nasty comment, saying, “You’re going to rot in hell for wearing that uniform and doing what you do. You should be a tree ornament.”
In _Dareallisimp’s TikTok video, she actually confronts the lady, pointing out her comment was obscenely racist, considering both her and her fellow soldier were both Black. She walks up to her at the store and asks her, “Excuse me? Did you tell one of my soldiers that she needs to be hanging from a tree? That she should be a tree ornament?”
The woman, stuttering and looking baffled by the confrontation, mutters a weak apology, while her husband stands quietly in the background. TikToker _Dareallisimp explains to her, “You wouldn’t be in the United States if it wasn’t for us.” It’s clear the woman has nothing to say to this, and just stands there silently.
The customer is called out for racism, but viewers are mixed about U.S. military
Although most commenters were willing to call the lady out for her blatant racism, support for the military wasn’t as cut-and-dry.“I will NEVER fight for a country who find my sacrifice as a joke!” one commenter wrote. In the same thread another viewer agreed, saying Black people serving in the military is an “embarrassment” because the country “actively and systematically hate you.”
Another commenter took it further, saying, “You are service and protecting Israel.” They shared they too had allegedly served in the military for “14 years,” including deployment into Afghanistan.
Others were more comfortable speaking out against the lady’s racism. “‘I don’t mean to judge’ MAAM THAT IS RACISM NOT JUDGEMENT.” One commenter argued the customer “committed a federal crime” and for the soldier to contact her CoC/CID.
Many viewers gave their support as well, thanking the TikTok user for her service. Though the point of the video was to highlight racism even in the most normal of places, people took it as an opportunity to also air their grievances with the U.S. military.
