RACISM + COMMUNITY
White Man Yells Racial Slurs At Neighbors — Blames His Temper
Anger is not an excuse to call someone a monkey or nigger
Forty-five-year-old Edward Cagney Mathews is a white, privileged man who thinks laws don’t apply to him. That’s the only way you can explain why he felt entitled to approach neighbors, yelling racial slurs and making blanket threats about what happened to “other neighbors” who got “involved before.” Apparently, he knows he is a troublemaker and, until recently, has never faced real consequences.
Mathews acted like he had no home training. He was running off of pure white rage. According to his neighbors, Mathews has a 2-year history of harassing members of the community. But, this time, he got caught. One of the neighbors recorded the entire incident. Mathews looked at the camera and said, “come see me” and “bring whoever.” Then, over 150 peaceful protestors showed up in front of his house. It looks like they took him up on that offer.
When an officer responded to the initial dispute, Mathews got aggressive with him. This goes to show white privilege is a helluva drug. All white people have it, but not all of them abuse it or think it shields them from all misdeeds. However, Mathews seems to believe that police have no right to respond to a dispute because it occurs on private property. It’s also ironic that he calls it “private” since moments ago he yelled at his Black neighbor, “this is common ground.” Funny how his narrative shifts, depending on who he is arguing with.
On top of being racist, Mathews also made xenophobic comments. He accused his Black neighbor of being a foreigner, declaring, “this isn’t Africa.” Mathews’ white privilege makes him think that he has the right to disrespect someone just because they arrive from another continent or speak with an accent. Even after the man said he was “born in America,” Mathews continued to harass him. Neighbors just wanted him to go home, but he stood there, sometimes stepping forward to yell and then retreating onto the sidewalk.
Black Americans are facing a counter-uprising, one that emboldens white men like Mathews to call a Black man a monkey” and “a nigger.”
At one point, Mathews came close to his Black neighbor, bragging about knowing someone on the homeowners’ board, claiming when the police arrived, he would “walk them the f*ck off.” This shows he considered hostility towards the police before their arrival. He instilled fear in his Black neighbor, implying that the police could not do anything when and if they arrived.
Police departments treat white communities with kid gloves, arresting them less, stopping them less. And New Jersey is no exception. Consequently, white men like Mathews act completely oblivious about what the police actually do to Black people; at least they don’t have to experience it first-hand. Being Black in America means you cannot yell at police officers just because you feel angry. Your emotions are often deemed null and void. Mathews’ belligerence is a symptom of his white privilege.
Mathews yelled at the officer, “It’s private property. You have no jurisdiction here whatsoever.” Keep in mind, Mathews was standing in front of someone else’s property. Yet, he seemed to think he had the right to harass them on their home turf. Somehow he thought police had no authority over him or his community. Can you imagine a Black man or woman smugly telling an officer they have no jurisdiction? I can’t because the consequences would be swift and painful.
American society expects Black people to comply with police officers even when they are disrespectful. Black people do not get to choose when to be polite to the police. It’s demanded and, even then, unappreciated, like in the case of George Floyd. Yet, the police officers let Mathews talk to them like dirt — that’s white privilege.
As a Black woman, I can understand feeling frustrated when police are violent or intrusive, but the police officer did not do anything to Mathews. Even when he said, “arrest me,” the police officer declined to at that time. He was obviously there to deescalate the situation. However, Mathews showed how dangerous white rage could be. Just like at the Capital on January 6th, white men like Mathews don’t care about law and order unless it's used as a tool to control or hurt Black people.
“F*uck you. Go talk to the niggers. Tell them what I’m all about,” Mathews shouted at the officer. At that point, he took a step back and said, “I’m going to let ya’ll get an education right now.” Like any Karen, this Ken thought officers were going to hurt the Black man. Luckily, this officer did not feed into Mathews’ racism. Instead, he spoke to the neighbors (we cannot see their faces on camera), and the woman of the house told the officer she wanted Mathews to “go away.”
On Monday night, police arrested Edward Cagney Mathews for a fourth-degree charge of bias intimidation and trespassing. From the size of the crowd, the community seemed happy to see him go. He disrespected a Black man and wanted to get him in trouble, but he ended up the one in the back of a cop car.
While it’s great Mathews did not get away with this transgression, far too many white people disrespect Black people every day without consequence. And if you tired of hearing about race or this seems like a lot to handle, consider that it’s just another day as a Black person in America. We don’t have the privilege to look away. Instead, Black Americans are facing a counter-uprising, one that emboldens white men like Mathews to call a Black man a monkey” and “a nigger.”
When asked about his behavior, Mathews blamed his temper. If getting angry makes you want to yell racist slurs, then you had it in you the whole time. It’s as simple as that. White men like him need to take responsibility for their actions. Stop making excuses for racism.
