Emmanuel Cafferty is a 47-year-old American the son of Mexican immigrants that he does not have higher education and that since June 3 he has gone through a living hell after being “canceled” by social networks, all due to a gesture that was misunderstood and that made it viral in the worst sense of the word.
That Wednesday he returned home after finishing his work day for the empresa San Diego Gas & Electric when he was interviewed by BBC Brasil.
He had his arm resting on the window of the truck he was driving and on several occasions he joined some of his fingers without noticing. But a driver (of Caucasian descent) passing by did do it, rebuke him, photograph him, and upload the record to his Twitter account. You can imagine the rest.
Cafferty not only lost his job, the best he had ever had, as he told BBC Mundo; but the scorn has been such that he needed to start a therapy to manage the fear and pain you have felt.
But what happened?
With his fingers, Cafferty made an “OK” sign., which as of 2017 is also considered in the United States as a sign in favor of racism by white supremacists users of 4Chan. From there it became part of the language of extremist groups in real life.
“The overwhelming majority of the time the gesture means consent or approval. That is why it cannot be presumed that someone who does it is using it in a context of racism, unless there is other evidence to support that perception, ”they told the BBC from the League against Defamation, an organization that fights against discourses of hatred in the Trump lands.
“In my case, it was not a symbol. I was just snapping my fingers. But a white man interpreted it as a gesture similar to ‘OK’, which would be racist, and he told my bosses, also white, that they decided to believe him, not me, that I’m not white ”Cafferty said, showing his skin tone.
“A crowd on Twitter canceled me. I already called all my former employers in the six weeks since the episode happened and nobody calls me back “the man lamented.
The affected person understands that any employer will search your profile online and that his name was unfortunately associated with a viral case of racism.
“Mine was tied to this episode, regardless of whether it was true or not. I don’t know how I’m going to continue with my life from here on out ”, he commented in conversation with the Spanish-speaking branch of the London chain.
According to the mentioned medium, the author of the photo told NBC that maybe he could have exaggerated in his reaction and commented that he never wanted Cafferty to lose his job.
After that, the subject deleted the photograph and the Twitter account he used for the funa, but the damage was done. BBC Brazil tried to contact him, but could not.
“This is how I lost the best job of my life,” Cafferty summarized for the position where he earned US $ 41 a week, double that of his previous job; and where for the first time was able to access health and welfare benefits.
Cafferty filed a lawsuit against San Diego Gas & Electric, although he knows that this legal action will not pay off in at least a year … if he has them.
In addition, he said he understands the movements for racial justice, although he never imagined being the focus of one for a misunderstanding. “I didn’t even have a Twitter account before I was canceled”, Hill.
His case started a campaign to get him rehired by his former employer. At press time, the page of Change.org accumulates 10,064 signatories.
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