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Edward Cagney Matthews: The Racist Menace From Mount Laurel
It’s a strange thing to grow up before the Internet.
As an Indian-American in New Orleans, you’re used to all kinds of racism. It may involve questions innocently framed from white women, such as: “No, where are you from, from?” so that they can ask more uncomfortable questions. It might also involve a muttered “Taliban” on the street when you’re walking back home from a restaurant in post 9–11 Manhattan. You hear it under a stranger’s breath, and decide that it isn’t worth it to react.
There were many instances and incidents, but there were no actual consequences. There was no evidence of the act or social media to share the nonexistent evidence. I didn’t go around taking notes about who was racist, and the technology to record racists on a device that fit in my pocket didn’t exist.
This is why it’s incredibly gratifying to see racist people facing actual repercussions for their racist rants, outbursts, and violence.
Enter Edward Cagney Matthews. The following took place at Essex Condominiums in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, on July 2, 2021.
The Mount Laurel Video, Part 1: The Beginning
If you do not want to see a disturbing video — do not watch this. You also may want to open this in a…