White Woman Fired For Harassing A Black Man Now Needs Help To Get Her Job Back
Anthony Gibson enjoys fishing at a pond in his neighborhood in Newnan, Georgia. However, everyone in the neighborhood doesn’t like him fishing in his own neighborhood pond. Gibson began to document his experiences every time a white person would bother him as he was minding his business while trying to fish.
On July 11, Gibson was with two Black female friends fishing when a white woman, Tanya Petty, came up to the group and informed Gibson that the pond is for “residents only”. Petty also informed Gibson that she would write down his license plate number and report him to the neighborhood authorities. By the end of that day’s fishing trip, Gibson had been approached four times by white residents questioning his right to fish there.
Gibson later learned that Petty had been fired from her job as a massage therapist at Sea Glass Therapy which is an emotional wellness center as a result of her actions towards him. Gibson talked to NBC News about it, telling them his motivations: “I literally wanted people to see what people like me have to go through when they live in a nice neighborhood and people don’t think that they live there.” Gibson is not motivated to post the videos in any malicious attempt to get people fired, he just wants to document what happens when you’re Black and people think you don’t belong in a particular space. Now, there appears to be concern among some of Gibson’s neighbors who want him to help get Petty her old job back. Gibson responded in an interview, “I’m not going to help her get her job back. She still hasn’t apologized to me. I haven’t seen her since.”
Gibson started recording videos in 2022, and he has shared that other Black residents of the Springwater Plantation have told him that they have also faced their own forms of harassment. Gibson says that a retired army veteran had a bag of dog feces left on his doorstep after telling a white community member to stop letting her dog leave fecal material in his yard. In other videos of Gibson’s, other Black residents have shared stories of unfair treatment they have received while fishing. Springwater Plantation’s president of the board of directors, Thomas Drolet, has commented on the dynamics of the neighborhood, saying that although it is racially diverse, there are elements of racism in how some of the residents view other residents. Drolet also stressed that the matter is one that they need to handle internally. Unfortunately, all of the incidents seem to have taken a toll on Gibson and they have dulled his desire to even want to go out to the lake and fish. Gibson explained: “ I’m not afraid of anybody. But do I want to get out of this house and go fishing and do any of that stuff around here anymore? Hell to the no.”
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