The hashtag #IStandWithErica trended on Twitter on Saturday after a black Georgia state lawmaker said she was told to “go back where you came from” as she shopped at a grocery store.
State Rep. Erica Thomas (D), minority vice chairwoman in the Georgia state House, tweeted Friday that she was “verbally assaulted” at the supermarket by a white man who told her she was “a lazy SOB” because she had more than the maximum items to enter an express lane.
Today I was verbally assaulted in the grocery store by a white man who told me I was a lazy SOB and to go back to where I came from bc I had to many items in the express lane. My husband wasn’t there to defend me because he is on Active Duty serving the country I came from USA!
— Erica Thomas (@itsericathomas) July 20, 2019
Thomas recounted the exchange in a Facebook Live video that has since been reposted to Twitter.
"I’m at the grocery store, and I’m in the aisle that says '10 items or less.' Yes, I have 15 items, but I’m nine months pregnant, and I can’t stand up for long," Thomas says in the video through tears. "And this white man comes up to me and says, 'You lazy son of a bitch.'"
"He says, 'You lazy son of a bitch. You need to go back where you came from,'" Thomas continues, adding that she tried to explain that she was pregnant and not lazy. "It hurt me so bad. ... I couldn't get anything out. I could just tell him, 'Please leave me alone.'"
We have a serious problem in this Country when @itsericathomas is subjected to racism in a Cobb County @Publix in front of her daughter. #gapol. #IStandwithErica thank you @RenittaShannon for alerting me and the @NAACPGA. #NoPlaceforHate. pic.twitter.com/hN5HDS4aG9
— Gerald A. Griggs (@AttorneyGriggs) July 20, 2019
Hundreds used the hashtag to show support for Thomas, including actress Patricia Arquette, who tweeted Saturday that the video was “MANDATORY VIEWING” and added that “WE WILL NOT ALLOW THIS CANCER TO GROW.”
MANDATORY VIEWING - NO THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. NO WE WILL NOT ALLOW THIS CANCER TO GROW. NO THIS CANNOT BE NORMALIZED. #IStandwithErica #racism https://t.co/MJeJOpQtwW
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) July 20, 2019
The now-viral video comes less than a week after President Trump
Donald John TrumpRepublicans aim to avoid war with White House over impeachment strategy New York Times editorial board calls for Trump's impeachment Trump rips Michigan Rep. Dingell after Fox News appearance: 'Really pathetic!' MORE attacked a group of minority progressive congresswomen — Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-CortezDemocrats ask if they have reason to worry about UK result Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez to hold campaign rallies in Los Angeles, Las Vegas Overwhelming majority say social media companies have too much influence: poll MORE (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar
Ilhan OmarIlhan Omar responds to 'Conservative Squad': 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' Biden narrowly ahead in Iowa as Sanders surges, Warren drops: poll Sanders, Omar to hit campaign trail in New Hampshire MORE (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley
Ayanna PressleyIlhan Omar responds to 'Conservative Squad': 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' Sanders, Omar to hit campaign trail in New Hampshire Booker unveils legislation for federal bill to ban discrimination against natural hair MORE (Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib
Rashida Harbi TlaibIlhan Omar responds to 'Conservative Squad': 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' House passes bill that would give legal status to thousands of undocumented farmworkers Biden narrowly ahead in Iowa as Sanders surges, Warren drops: poll MORE (Mich.) — tweeting Sunday that they should “go back” to their home countries despite the fact that all four are U.S. citizens and only Omar was born outside the U.S.
At a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, supporters erupted into “send her back” chants targeting Omar after Trump attacked the freshman congresswoman, who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee when she was a child.
