Latest Racial Profiler, Adam Bloom, Lives In My Former Neighborhood
True Racist or Just a Jerk?
On July 4, 2018, Adam Bloom, a member of the homeowner’s association and the chair of the pool of the Glenridge Community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina took it upon himself to question a Black woman, Jasmine Edwards, about whether or not she belonged there. You need a key card to get into that pool, but for some reason he didn’t think that was enough and questioned whether or not Ms. Edwards had the right to be using the pool. He stopped her and asked her for her address and ID, although he has yet to reveal why he thought that she didn’t belong there, other than the color of her skin, apparently other members may have asked him to question her.
Ms. Edwards apparently provided her address to Bloom, but declined to provide an ID. Bloom then took it upon himself to call the police on her. Winston-Salem police quickly established that Jasmine Edwards had every right to be at the pool and that was the end of the incident as far as they were concerned. Edwards filmed the entire encounter on her cell phone and it has since become national news.
Bloom has subsequently resigned from the homeowner’s association and has been let go from his job at Sunoco. He has gone on the local news to try to make himself look less shitty and to half-heartedly apologize but it really all comes across as damage control. As shocking as this all is, in some ways it really isn’t that surprising. We knew him to be somewhat of a bully and a martinet when we knew him. In fact, all this may not have been racially motivated at all, but just another example of Boss Hogg trying to exert his power and influence. But in any case, it’s not good.
Last Wednesday when Americans everywhere were just trying to enjoy their Independence day, Jasmine Edwards was also. There weren’t a lot of African American families in our neighborhood when we lived in Glenridge. Winston-Salem remains the most racially segretated city that I have ever personally lived in and for the most part upper middle class Whites lived in the West side of town, while Blacks lived either downtown or on the East side. Still, it is 2018 and it really wasn’t something worth calling the police about to find someone of color at the Glenridge community pool.
I’m embarrassed to have recently lived in a community where this kind of harassment has taken place. Whether or not it was truly racially movtivated, it certainly looks suspicious. I have a lot of fond memories of that neighorhood, but I really have no sympathy for this kind of harassment of anyone. I hate that Adam Bloom has brought shame upon that otherwise lovely community.
