A Consolidation of Local Information on Social Media
Facebook posts singling out neo-nazi tattoo artists, outrage over racist incidents on Twitter feeds, people calling others out on Instagram for intolerance, hatred and bigotry — these have all been commonplace in the past few years on the Reno social media scene.
As these platforms grow and people become more savvy in using them, while national and local conversations turn to racism, never though has this information been so consolidated and organized.
One example is the Accountability for Reno Businesses Facebook page. Its About section says it all: “This page is to Hold Local Business Owners and People accountable for Racist acts.”
“I feel like that accountability is at an all time low,” the creator of the page explained to us during a recent interview. “So I don't think that people who hate other people should be benefiting from those people either. It doesn't make any sense to me and it doesn't make any sense to most of us,” he said of why he recently started the page.
Recent posts show a screen grab with a comment by a local realtor talking about MLK Day and “cramming ‘special events’ down every American’s throat.”
A screen grab on this page is called a #ReceiptAttached, either a screen shot of a comment/message/post or a video of an incriminating act. “These are requirements,” the website indicates. “We must have PROOF to back claims… We must stay Factual.”
Another recent post shows a tile contractor in Carson City using the n word in a Facebook post.
“Our focus right now is where it needs to be,” the page creator who wished to remain anonymous told us. “The focus is on business owners who are outspoken about their hatred for others, and that is not professional, nor should it be accepted.”
A post on the /Reno Reddit thread concerning Tammy Borde, the owner of the Chocolate Walrus lingerie store in Midtown Reno. We sent a message for comment to the Chocolate Walrus Instagram page but didn’t hear back. Her social media conversations concerning George Floyd have been widely shared on Reno social media in recent weeks.
More Publicized Cases
Another widely circulated case in the community involved the owner of the Junkee Midtown thrift and antiques shop Jessica Schneider, who backed away from social media comments she initially made after protests erupted in Reno, apologizing and re-apologizing, and then announcing she was stepping away from her store’s social media accounts and focusing her attention on ventures she is currently pursuing outside of Reno.
Staff have said they were faced with death threats while continuing to work at Junkee despite organizing walkouts and a series of heated meetings with their employer. Since then, there has been a #boycottjunkee hashtag going around in Reno. Several shoppers we talked to in Midtown said they hesitated in going to what used to be one of their favorite local stores, and that they were trying other options first.
Is change possible for someone once they’ve been outed on social media we asked the creator of the Accountability for Reno Businesses Facebook page?
“I think that any change is possible,” he said. “But the problem here is that, don't disguise it for something else, meaning, don't say, ‘hey, I'm pro Black Lives Matter’ because you want to save your profits. Be sincere about it. It's not hard to accept others for who they are. If you’re not being sincere, your apology is just going to fall flat. It really needs to be the case where they need to just really be reeducated. At the end of the day, they have to be held accountable in some way. So that accountability will be a loss of profits. At the end of the day, we're not going to sit here as a community and allow you to profit and live a great life while you're over here, hating the very people that give you those profits. ”
Multiple accounts have been discussing what has been going on at Shea’s Tavern and on the social media of their owners. We reached out to the Instagram page of Shea’s Tavern to get a response, but did not hear back.
Community Contributions
The Facebook Accountability for Reno Businesses page also encourages community contributions accompanied by these hashtags: #BLACKLIVESMATTER #STANDUPRENO #THETIMEISNOW “No one should benefit from being Racist. Being Racist is a Choice of Ignorance not a Right of Pride,” the page reads.
The creator of the page says he takes the accuracy of what he is doing very seriously, as he knows the influence it can wield.
“Social media has become the morning paper, everybody gets up and the first thing they do, they pick up their phones and they are right to social media. I’ve had people that have talked to me from certain other small businesses that are really behind what we're doing, because we can't let these people benefit off of the people that they hate. We're all human beings and accountability is for everyone,” he concluded.