US family told to stop 'acting like black people' by white neighbour

18 November 2020, 16:13

A black family in California has spoken out after being told to stop “acting like black people” by a white neighbour brandishing a taser.

The family from Discovery Bay, California, said they had encountered no issues with their neighbour having lived there for 12 years.

But on Monday, home video footage showed a woman confront them on their doorstep, reportedly angry that their dog was outside off a lead.

“I don’t want to see that dog outside,” the white neighbour told the Jones family, according to NBC

“You guys are acting like black people, and you should act like white people. You’re acting like people that aren’t normal.”

Later in the encounter the footage showed her telling the family: “You’re a black person in a white neighbourhood and you’re acting like one. Why don’t you act like a white person in a white neighbourhood?"

She is shown carrying a poodle in one hand and a stun gun in another.

The father Gerritt Jones said he and his young family was uncomfortable but not afraid. “Unfortunately, that’s the reality of being black in America,” he told NBC.

“Normal to her is people who will lay down and submit to, unfortunately, her white privilege.”

“She had a stun gun. Had my sister or any of them got physical, myself, with her, the story would’ve been this black family is assaulting this white lady in the streets,” he added.

“I want my son to grow up and be proud of who he is, and I hope that people all over the country learn from this and see that this can’t be tolerated.”

He said his 13-year-old son has come up with a new slogan: “We’re going to act black in our white neighbourhood.”

Contra Costa County police told the broadcaster officers spoke to the family and the neighbour after a complaint about an off-leash dog, but found no crime.