Man blocks black delivery driver in Oklahoma neighborhood

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

 

[Mr Natural]

I’m surprised he didn’t get shot.

 

[Dragonlady]

This is horrific. It's bad enough when unarmed black people are shot in the streets, but this is the second time police have just walked into someone's home and just shot them for no reason.

 

[Dana7360]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Wow.

He was just doing his job.

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

If I was that man driving that truck, I would sue those men who blocked their truck. They had absolutely no authority to do what they did.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I’m surprised he didn’t get shot.

It would be nice if he could have these men arrested for false imprisonment but I would certainly understand them not wanting to even think about this any further.

 

[Mr Natural]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Wow.

He was just doing his job.

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

If I was that man driving that truck, I would sue those men who blocked their truck. They had absolutely no authority to do what they did.

I think I may have been inclined to say something like “Get the fuck out of my way you cracker asshole.”

But then again. . .

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

I am sure he was 'delivering' something...grand theft probably.

 

[toobfreak]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Just what was the problem there? I'm not sure any "racism" was involved, just some stupidity and over-protective paranoid community people. If the home owner thought this dude was up to something, robbing or whatever, how do they think he got in? Why didn't they just call the cops? And why didn't the truck driver just show them something showing his reason for being there? Or get the license plate of the car blocking him and call the cops? OR file a complaint with the police? Come to think of it, there was wide open space there. I would have told the white guy to just move or else, then just driven around him through the grass and left. Fuck that.

 

[B. Kidd]

Oklahoma has alot of weird MF'ers and a fair amount of lowly edukated white trash.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Wow.

He was just doing his job.

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

If I was that man driving that truck, I would sue those men who blocked their truck. They had absolutely no authority to do what they did.

Unfortunately for us far too many white people with a racist bent still believe they're entitled to practice the societal normals of earlier centuries particularly stopping black people and demanding to know who they are, why they're where they are, etc. Same thing the police do

Typical slave codes
There are many similarities between the various slave codes. The most common elements are:

• Movement Restrictions: Most regions required any slaves away from their plantations or outside of the cities they resided in to have a pass signed by their master. Many cities in the slave-states required slave-tags, small copper badges that enslaved people wore, to show that they were allowed to move about.[4]
• Marriage Restrictions: Most places restricted the marriage rights of enslaved people, ostensibly to prevent them from trying to change masters by marrying into a family on another plantation.[5] Marriage between people of different races was also usually restricted.
• Prohibitions on Gathering: Slave codes generally prevented large groups of enslaved people from gathering away from their plantations.
• Slave Patrols: In the slave-dependent portions of North America, varying degrees of legal authority backed patrols by plantation owners and other free whites to ensure that enslaved people were not free to move about at night, and to generally enforce the restrictions on slaves.[6]
• Trade and Commerce by Slaves: Initially, most places gave enslaved people some land to work personally and allowed them to operate their markets. As slavery became more profitable, slave codes restricting the rights of enslaved people to buy, sell, and produce goods were introduced.[7] In some places, slave tags were required to be worn by enslaved people to prove that they were allowed to participate in certain types of work.[8]
• Punishment and Killing of Slaves: Slave codes regulated how slaves could be punished, usually going so far as to apply no penalty for accidentally killing a slave while punishing them.[9] Later laws began to apply restrictions on this, but slave-owners were still rarely punished for killing their slaves.[10] Historian Lawrence M. Friedman wrote: "Ten Southern codes made it a crime to mistreat a slave.... Under the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825 (art. 192), if a master was ′convicted of cruel treatment,′ the judge could order the sale of the mistreated slave, presumably to a better master."[11]
• Education Restrictions: Some codes made it illegal to teach slaves to read.[12]

Slave codes - Wikipedia

 

[Polishprince]

I don't know why the furniture delivery guy didn't just tell the fellows who he was there for. There is no such thing as Furniture Delivery-Customer privilege.

There has been a lot of crime in Oklahoma lately, the people have a right to be cautious. Hasn't he heard about the Corona Panic?

 

[Polishprince]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Wow.

He was just doing his job.

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

If I was that man driving that truck, I would sue those men who blocked their truck. They had absolutely no authority to do what they did.

Unfortunately for us far too many white people with a racist bent still believe they're entitled to practice the societal normals of earlier centuries particularly stopping black people and demanding to know who they are, why they're where they are, etc. Same thing the police do

Typical slave codes
There are many similarities between the various slave codes. The most common elements are:

• Movement Restrictions: Most regions required any slaves away from their plantations or outside of the cities they resided in to have a pass signed by their master. Many cities in the slave-states required slave-tags, small copper badges that enslaved people wore, to show that they were allowed to move about.[4]
• Marriage Restrictions: Most places restricted the marriage rights of enslaved people, ostensibly to prevent them from trying to change masters by marrying into a family on another plantation.[5] Marriage between people of different races was also usually restricted.
• Prohibitions on Gathering: Slave codes generally prevented large groups of enslaved people from gathering away from their plantations.
• Slave Patrols: In the slave-dependent portions of North America, varying degrees of legal authority backed patrols by plantation owners and other free whites to ensure that enslaved people were not free to move about at night, and to generally enforce the restrictions on slaves.[6]
• Trade and Commerce by Slaves: Initially, most places gave enslaved people some land to work personally and allowed them to operate their markets. As slavery became more profitable, slave codes restricting the rights of enslaved people to buy, sell, and produce goods were introduced.[7] In some places, slave tags were required to be worn by enslaved people to prove that they were allowed to participate in certain types of work.[8]
• Punishment and Killing of Slaves: Slave codes regulated how slaves could be punished, usually going so far as to apply no penalty for accidentally killing a slave while punishing them.[9] Later laws began to apply restrictions on this, but slave-owners were still rarely punished for killing their slaves.[10] Historian Lawrence M. Friedman wrote: "Ten Southern codes made it a crime to mistreat a slave.... Under the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825 (art. 192), if a master was ′convicted of cruel treatment,′ the judge could order the sale of the mistreated slave, presumably to a better master."[11]
• Education Restrictions: Some codes made it illegal to teach slaves to read.[12]

Slave codes - Wikipedia

It wasn't that this guy was black, it was that he was inside the gate of a Gated Community and was not a resident.

 

[B. Kidd]

I'll call out any MF'er that is stoopid....whether it be white trash, brown trash, black trash, oriental trash, mulatto trash, as long as their common denominator is stoopid, and they infringe on my rights!
Stoopid IS what makes them trash.

 

[Eric Arthur Blair]

It wasn't that this guy was black, it was that he was inside the gate of a Gated Community and was not a resident.

All sorts of delivery workers do enter gated communities on a regular daily basis. This is paranoid idiocy.
Why not just inform the vigilante with the Subaru where he had just delivered to? Why wasn't that tried?

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Another one to file under "working while black"

"My intention was never to go viral," Travis Miller said. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

May 14, 2020, 1:33 PM PDT / Updated May 15, 2020, 11:14 AM PDT
By Janelle Griffith and Doha Madani

A black delivery driver was brought to tears while recording himself and a black co-worker as they were blocked from leaving a gated Oklahoma City neighborhood for nearly an hour by a white resident who demanded to know why they were there.
Travis Miller, who delivers home appliances and furniture, captured the incident Monday in a Facebook Live video that has gone viral. The 37-minute video had nearly 300,000 views by Thursday evening and had been shared more than 10,000 times.

Miller, like many of those who commented on the video, believe the encounter was racially motivated.

Miller, 42, told NBC News that his customer in Edmond gave him the code to get through the neighborhood's gate. After completing the delivery and as they were trying to exit, a man who identified himself as David Stewart and a board member of the homeowners' association can be seen on the video questioning Miller and his co-worker about why they were on his street.
A man by that name could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Miller said in the video that he was trying to make a U-turn and that as he turned around, the man was blocking him in with a white Subaru.

"If I go around him, I'm going to have to drive on somebody's property and I don't want to make a bad situation worse," Miller said in the video.

Miller repeatedly asked the man to move the car.

"I'm not moving," the man said. "All you have to do is tell me where you're going."

Miller refused, saying he did not have to tell the man anything.

Miller said Thursday that he kept his seat belt on, remained in the truck and recorded the encounter to protect himself and his colleague.

"My intention was never to go viral," Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. "My intention was to cover myself in case he called my employer and said I did something other than what I did."

He said he also did not want the situation to escalate, because he feared that if police had responded, he would have been perceived as the aggressor.

About 30 minutes into the encounter, a second white man confronted Miller.

"All we want to know is why you're in here and who gave you the gate code," the second man said. "That's all we need to know."

After Miller refused to reveal his client's personal information, the man who identified himself as Stewart said he was calling police.

At one point in the video, Miller can be seen with tears streaming down his face. He wipes his tears away with a blue bandanna before he, too, calls police.

The man who initially approached Miller can be seen in the video calling police to withdraw a report after he got in touch with Miller's customer.

Miller said he also called Edmond police to make sure the man had withdrawn his report.

Miller said his customer defused the situation by telling the two men to move.

"He said he was sorry it happened," Miller said. "He said those guys are overprotective of the neighborhood."

Capt. Larry Withrow of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Friday that officers did not go to the scene because the original caller who reported that "there was a trespasser in the subdivision" at 4:21 p.m. called back about 30 minutes later and cancelled the report. Withrow said a third call was placed at about 4:55 p.m. by a man who said he wanted to know if it was OK for him to leave the property.

Story continued here:
Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Man blocks black delivery driver in an Oklahoma neighborhood

Wow.

He was just doing his job.

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

If I was that man driving that truck, I would sue those men who blocked their truck. They had absolutely no authority to do what they did.

Unfortunately for us far too many white people with a racist bent still believe they're entitled to practice the societal normals of earlier centuries particularly stopping black people and demanding to know who they are, why they're where they are, etc. Same thing the police do

Typical slave codes
There are many similarities between the various slave codes. The most common elements are:

• Movement Restrictions: Most regions required any slaves away from their plantations or outside of the cities they resided in to have a pass signed by their master. Many cities in the slave-states required slave-tags, small copper badges that enslaved people wore, to show that they were allowed to move about.[4]
• Marriage Restrictions: Most places restricted the marriage rights of enslaved people, ostensibly to prevent them from trying to change masters by marrying into a family on another plantation.[5] Marriage between people of different races was also usually restricted.
• Prohibitions on Gathering: Slave codes generally prevented large groups of enslaved people from gathering away from their plantations.
• Slave Patrols: In the slave-dependent portions of North America, varying degrees of legal authority backed patrols by plantation owners and other free whites to ensure that enslaved people were not free to move about at night, and to generally enforce the restrictions on slaves.[6]
• Trade and Commerce by Slaves: Initially, most places gave enslaved people some land to work personally and allowed them to operate their markets. As slavery became more profitable, slave codes restricting the rights of enslaved people to buy, sell, and produce goods were introduced.[7] In some places, slave tags were required to be worn by enslaved people to prove that they were allowed to participate in certain types of work.[8]
• Punishment and Killing of Slaves: Slave codes regulated how slaves could be punished, usually going so far as to apply no penalty for accidentally killing a slave while punishing them.[9] Later laws began to apply restrictions on this, but slave-owners were still rarely punished for killing their slaves.[10] Historian Lawrence M. Friedman wrote: "Ten Southern codes made it a crime to mistreat a slave.... Under the Louisiana Civil Code of 1825 (art. 192), if a master was ′convicted of cruel treatment,′ the judge could order the sale of the mistreated slave, presumably to a better master."[11]
• Education Restrictions: Some codes made it illegal to teach slaves to read.[12]

Slave codes - Wikipedia

It wasn't that this guy was black, it was that he was inside the gate of a Gated Community and was not a resident.

In a big DELIVERY truck with the company name and presumably phone number on the side of it.

The idiots could have exercised some discretion and called the company to verify whether he was supposed to be there that day giving them the license plate & photo of the driver if necessary to makes themselves feel better.

It's a lot easier than most people seem to realize to gather information without confronting people and throwing one's weight around.

And demanding information of people when you have no authority to do so is not the way to go IF you want their cooperation.

 

[Likkmee]

He wouldn't have gotten past the city limits here without the correct paperwork. 10 years ago

 

[Natural Citizen]

What makes those men think they had any authority to demand such information from him?

What makes those men think that they own public streets?

Technically speaking, you've been pimping the very same practice in the coronavirus threads.

Remember you said this the next time you're in one of those contact tracing threads.

 

[bodecea]

I am sure he was 'delivering' something...grand theft probably.

No racism here, folks.

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

I am sure he was 'delivering' something...grand theft probably.

No racism here, folks.

What? If a black comes into your neighborhood that you don't recognize and you are not suspicious...you are an idiot.

 

[B. Kidd]

I am sure he was 'delivering' something...grand theft probably.

No racism here, folks.

What? If a black comes into your neighborhood that you don't recognize and you are not suspicious...you are an idiot.

The truck had lettering that described it.
Are you stoopid?
Are you white trash?