You’ve seen the video, no doubt. A Manhattan lawyer on a rant about service workers at a fast food restaurant who are only speaking Spanish (Dios mio!).
A New York City lawyer screamed at Spanish-speaking customers and employees in a Midtown restaurant and threatened to call ICE. When footage of the rant went viral, the internet took action. pic.twitter.com/arnOK9wcdF
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) May 17, 2018
But wait, there’s more. Local TV news in New York has tracked down the racist ranter, Aaron Schlossberg, crossing a street.
https://twitter.com/EVRYBODYvsTRUMP/status/997259302191558659
In disguise, crossing another street, before he bolts.
This may be the BEST CLIP EVER
Aaron M. Schlossberg, the racist lawyer who threatened to call immigration enforcement on workers at a Manhattan cafe earlier this week, literally RAN away from an NBC News reporter earlier today.😂😂😂pic.twitter.com/xZ9xTjK88w
— trump was too chicken to testify under oath (@MaggieJordanACN) May 18, 2018
There have been calls for Schlossberg to be disbarred. He’s been kicked out of his office. He’s been “Yelp-bombed” into oblivion.
The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg has been flooded with one-star reviews on Yelp, with commenters calling Schlossberg a "vile racist" and surfacing other incidents of disparaging remarks he's made in public toward minority groups. via @CNBC https://t.co/C9SToDtjRa
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 17, 2018
But there is more to this story than one low-life lawyer. The reaction to this jerk is about something more. Many Americans, and many, many New Yorkers have had it with the dog whistle racism. There is a palpable, pent-up frustration with what’s going on in Washington and nowhere to vent it. We have a president who has given a wink and a nod to the Aaron Schlossbergs of America. What are we to expect when a president talks about those from “shithole countries,” or Mexican rapists or blaming “many sides” for the Nazi violence in Charlottesville? We have a president who has signaled to racists everywhere it’s ok to crawl out from under their rocks and yell at people who don’t look like them. But Mr. Schlossberg, a Trump supporter and contributor, could not have picked a more liberal place to lose his mind. He also could not have chosen a more diverse one. Only half of New Yorkers speak English at home. There are dozens of languages overheard on Manhattan streets every day. And that’s a good thing. We’ve become a better society in the years since the Civil Rights Movement. We are all more trusting and tolerable and loving. Until a politician suddenly signals that hate is ok. And we give Aaron Schlossberg more attention than he deserves. Because it’s not just about him.