Photo via @icecreamlando/TikTok
August 18, 2021, 1:10 pm
Video footage of a ridiculously racist electronic billboard in Pennsylvania spouting white supremacist messages went viral on TikTok and Twitter after being posted by a Black man who was simply stopping for gas and ended up enduring the most uncomfortable tank-filling of his life. The billboard, which belongs to the independently-run gas station, contained messages like “white is beautiful” and “white matters” along with graphs showing that white people are still the majority in the U.S., which in context feels like a threat.
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“As a black man, picked the wrong exist to get gas in Pennsylvania,” the overlay text reads.
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The billboard is also within clear view of a large Trump/Pence sign adorned with American flags. In addition to the various white supremacist slogans, the electronic billboard advises people to boycott popular social media and internet tech companies, says “God Bless America” but also “GOD BLESS NOT GOVERNMENT,” and blames the Biden administration for the increasing gas prices.
To top it all off, the sign displays the “thin blue line” flag embraced by racist police and their far-right supporters, claiming that cops are what keeps the country “safe,” which must have felt like the height of irony to the Black man who was feeling profoundly unsafe at the time. The final slide displays three of the so-called “Founding Fathers” of the U.S. with text reading “white history matters,” as though white history isn’t the thing we were all taught in public schools not matter where we grew up.
The billboard has been the subject of ire within the Worthington, Pennsylvania community in the past, with local activists trying to get it taken down. The fuel company previously associated with the gas station even cut ties with the owner back in 2019, stating that the racist messages displayed do not represent Sunoco’s values.
“At Sunoco, we believe racism and bias in any form are simply unacceptable,” the company said in a statement. “These offensive billboards are unacceptable and do not represent our values and beliefs in any way.”
Though the original video was presented as something meant to be at least a little humorous, judging by the music choice, TikTok user @icecreamlando posted a follow-up highlighting one of the many racist comments he received and speaking on the real fear and horror he felt thanks to that billboard.
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“You know, it was a very uncomfortable feeling standing there,” he said. “It made all the hair on my arms kind of raise up when I saw that sign, and it just wasn’t fun, and I don’t recommend anybody have to ever feel the way that makes you feel.”
“And for all the people that said I’m not really Black, surprise!” he added.
The original video now has over 5.8 million views on TikTok and has spread to Twitter, where many commenters expressed dismay at the sign’s content and sympathy for the man who had to see that.
*First Published: August 18, 2021, 1:10 pm
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