The mayor of a tiny coastal Georgia town is under fire for a now-deleted Facebook post about what constitutes “privilege.”
Bloomingdale Mayor Ben Rozier posted a message on the Gossip Bloomingdale GA Facebook group Tuesday, alluding being on government assistance was “privilege,” news outlets reported.
Bloomingdale is a Savannah suburb with a population of about 2,700.
Rozier's full post was posted by WTOC. Here is its entirety.
“What is privilege? ... Privilege is wearing $200 sneakers when you’ve never had a job. Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance. Privilege is having a Smartphone with a Data plan which you receive no bill for.
“Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don’t have a water bill, where rising property taxes and rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table.
“Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worry about calling out of work and the consequences that accompany such behavior.
“Privilege is having as many children as you want, regardless of your employment status, and be able to send them off to daycare or school you don’t pay for.
“Privilege is sending your kids to school early for the before school programs and breakfast, and then keeping them there for the after school program ... all at no cost to you ... paid for by the people who DO HAVE TO DEAL WITH RISING TAXES AND COSTS! ... you know, us so called ‘PRIVILEGED’ the ones who pay while you TAKE TAKE TAKE!”
The Bloomingdale City Council said it was aware of the post and “wishes to state collectively that this action taken by Mayor Rozier is his action and his action alone. We in no way condone or endorse any single or collective posts made by the mayor.”
Resident Hannah Minter told WTOC that Rozier “used a bunch of racial stereotypes to completely deflect away from the matter at hand, which is white privilege.”
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