A black couple in Georgia turned away a white repairman who showed up to their house while flying a large Confederate flag, leaving the couple in utter “disbelief” before saying he wasn’t welcome.
The Saturday exchange between Zeke and Allison Brown and a contractor in his early 20s identified only as Michael was caught on the couple’s doorbell cam at their home in Dallas, a suburb of Atlanta, where they wanted someone to fix faulty brakes on their golf cart, ABC News reports.
Zeke Brown said his son first spotted the flag that’s seen by some as a symbol of slavery and white supremacy as the repairman pulled into the family’s driveway, prompting the younger Brown to say he was going to leave “because he knew nothing good” would come of the ensuing encounter.
After a polite conversation with the contractor, Brown said, he was in “disbelief” that the man he hired from Facebook’s local marketplace would think the flag was acceptable to fly during house calls.
Brown’s wife then came outside and bluntly turned the man away, video shows.
“Hi. You know what?” Allison Brown said. “I do apologize … I know you’ve come from a very long way, but we’re going to use someone else.”
Brown said she was “beyond upset” by the flag and told the man to “continue to believe what you need to believe” before sending him on his way.
“But no, I cannot pay you for your services,” she continued. “Thank you. Have a good day.”
The repairman offered to remove the flag, but the damage was already done. He later reached out to the couple on Facebook to say he didn’t mean to offend them, Zeke Brown told ABC News.
Brown replied to the contractor, explaining that the flag is “extremely offensive” to people of color while urging him to do some research
“I understand it is part of American history, but that flag stood for a time in history where people such as myself had a very bad way of life,” Brown wrote in the message, which was obtained by WXIA. “The few minutes I got to speak with you, I saw nothing that represents that flag. I saw a very respectful young man that works very hard to make his way.”