Sword-carrying man’s racial comment brings N.J. girl to tears on family ice cream trip
Updated Aug 02, 2020; Posted Aug 02, 2020
Serenity Bellamy, of Trenton, after a man made a racist comment to her family during an ice cream outing.
By Kevin Shea | For NJ.com
Sword-carrying man’s racist comment brings N.J. girl to tears on family ice cream trip
A Trenton family’s trip to get ice cream turned ugly last Monday when a sword-carrying man confronted them and made a racial comment, causing their daughter to cry in frustration.
The Bellamy family, Antonio and Diane and their three children, frequent the Dairy Queen across the river in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and typically enjoy their treats at nearby benches on a walking path near the Delaware River.
On Monday, at about 6:30 p.m., after Antonio dropped them off and went back to the shop to get his order, they said a white man wearing a Samurai-style sword on a sling came upon the family and said, “Obey the governor’s orders.”
Confused, Diane and the kids said nothing. Her 6-year-old son chuckled at the odd comment, prompting the man to turn and say, “It’s funny how you minorities want to be treated equal but you can’t follow the rules.”
The Bellamy’s are Black, and in that instant, the family’s outing was ruined, they said. They were insulted and scared, and got in their car and left. Diane and Antonio poured out their thoughts and emotions in lengthy Facebook posts that night and the next day.
“I have to not only protect them from the mental anguish that comes with the pandemic but all the mental anguish for being hated because of their skin color,” Diane wrote.
“They felt unsafe and feared what could have happened as they stood defenseless before a white man with a sword whose words were insensitive, ignorant, insulting, and racist,” Antonio wrote in a post which was also a letter to Morrisville’s police chief about the incident.
Diane said Thursday she and her husband are unaware of what the man meant by mentioning, “the governor.” The family members had masks, but were not wearing them as they ate ice cream, alone as a family. She normally would have spoken up to defend herself, but the man’s sword made her freeze.
When he returned, Antonio started after the man, but held himself back when his son said, “Daddy no.”
What really got to them, though, was their daughter Serenity’s reaction.
Tears streamed down her face as the dejected 10-year-old said, “Why do they hate us so much?! Just why?” And, “It’s just not fair” over and over, her mother recalled.
Diane took a picture on her phone, as her daughter stared out the window, face mask around her chin. She posted it on Facebook, and agreed to have NJ Advance Media publish it, too.
It’s important, Diane said, for people to see how one comment can be a total heartbreaker for a child. “People need to see what it feels like for a kid,” she said.
The story, as negative as it started, has some silver linings, Diane said. They had a conversation with their children about how it would be easy to hate, but love is the better choice. “Why can’t we hate them back?” Serenity had asked.
“We are literally trying our best to teach them to love when hate feels so right and easy at times,” Diane wrote.
Plus, her Facebook post was met with a wave of support in the comments that Diane said was encouraging to the couple.
Antonio, a senior pastor at Transformation Church in Trenton, in his post asked Morrisville’s chief, George McClay, to call out racism publicly.
The chief did, and called Antonio personally.
“The words and actions of this one individual, who lives in a community across the river, reflects poorly on our own community and should not be tolerated by anyone in our community,” McClay said in a statement, also posted to Facebook.
McClay, on Friday, said he knows exactly who the man was, as he is familiar to many police officers and residents. First, the chief said, the sword is not real, it’s a wood replica the man wears as part of an exercise regimen during which he dresses in military-style clothing. Secondly, the man, a Trenton resident, has never “pulled” the sword.
The chief said he has no doubt the man said what the family reported. Still, he will not be charged with any violations. Morrisville officers have several times encountered the man for varying complaints and his actions do not rise to the level of a crime.
The chief, in his Facebook statement, called the incident disturbing and said the police department will not stand for any bigotry.
“I ask all of our neighbors to respect one another and treat each other with kindness so that we can set shining examples for our children and adults of the future,” the chief wrote in his public statement
Updated Aug 02, 2020; Posted Aug 02, 2020
By Kevin Shea | For NJ.com
Sword-carrying man’s racist comment brings N.J. girl to tears on family ice cream trip
A Trenton family’s trip to get ice cream turned ugly last Monday when a sword-carrying man confronted them and made a racial comment, causing their daughter to cry in frustration.
The Bellamy family, Antonio and Diane and their three children, frequent the Dairy Queen across the river in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and typically enjoy their treats at nearby benches on a walking path near the Delaware River.
On Monday, at about 6:30 p.m., after Antonio dropped them off and went back to the shop to get his order, they said a white man wearing a Samurai-style sword on a sling came upon the family and said, “Obey the governor’s orders.”
Confused, Diane and the kids said nothing. Her 6-year-old son chuckled at the odd comment, prompting the man to turn and say, “It’s funny how you minorities want to be treated equal but you can’t follow the rules.”
The Bellamy’s are Black, and in that instant, the family’s outing was ruined, they said. They were insulted and scared, and got in their car and left. Diane and Antonio poured out their thoughts and emotions in lengthy Facebook posts that night and the next day.
“I have to not only protect them from the mental anguish that comes with the pandemic but all the mental anguish for being hated because of their skin color,” Diane wrote.
“They felt unsafe and feared what could have happened as they stood defenseless before a white man with a sword whose words were insensitive, ignorant, insulting, and racist,” Antonio wrote in a post which was also a letter to Morrisville’s police chief about the incident.
Diane said Thursday she and her husband are unaware of what the man meant by mentioning, “the governor.” The family members had masks, but were not wearing them as they ate ice cream, alone as a family. She normally would have spoken up to defend herself, but the man’s sword made her freeze.
When he returned, Antonio started after the man, but held himself back when his son said, “Daddy no.”
What really got to them, though, was their daughter Serenity’s reaction.
Tears streamed down her face as the dejected 10-year-old said, “Why do they hate us so much?! Just why?” And, “It’s just not fair” over and over, her mother recalled.
Diane took a picture on her phone, as her daughter stared out the window, face mask around her chin. She posted it on Facebook, and agreed to have NJ Advance Media publish it, too.
It’s important, Diane said, for people to see how one comment can be a total heartbreaker for a child. “People need to see what it feels like for a kid,” she said.
The story, as negative as it started, has some silver linings, Diane said. They had a conversation with their children about how it would be easy to hate, but love is the better choice. “Why can’t we hate them back?” Serenity had asked.
“We are literally trying our best to teach them to love when hate feels so right and easy at times,” Diane wrote.
Plus, her Facebook post was met with a wave of support in the comments that Diane said was encouraging to the couple.
Antonio, a senior pastor at Transformation Church in Trenton, in his post asked Morrisville’s chief, George McClay, to call out racism publicly.
The chief did, and called Antonio personally.
“The words and actions of this one individual, who lives in a community across the river, reflects poorly on our own community and should not be tolerated by anyone in our community,” McClay said in a statement, also posted to Facebook.
McClay, on Friday, said he knows exactly who the man was, as he is familiar to many police officers and residents. First, the chief said, the sword is not real, it’s a wood replica the man wears as part of an exercise regimen during which he dresses in military-style clothing. Secondly, the man, a Trenton resident, has never “pulled” the sword.
The chief said he has no doubt the man said what the family reported. Still, he will not be charged with any violations. Morrisville officers have several times encountered the man for varying complaints and his actions do not rise to the level of a crime.
The chief, in his Facebook statement, called the incident disturbing and said the police department will not stand for any bigotry.
“I ask all of our neighbors to respect one another and treat each other with kindness so that we can set shining examples for our children and adults of the future,” the chief wrote in his public statement
