‘White Hispanic race soldier’: Self-styled ‘race-baiter’ Tariq Nasheed plays identity card after Latino cop shoots black suspect

Film producer Tariq Nasheed’s tweet implying that Hispanics are racist toward African Americans was met with ridicule and antagonism. He posted it after a Latino sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a black man.

The self-described “race-baiter” tweeted on Monday about a “white Hispanic race soldier” killing a black man in Los Angeles the same day. In the post, Nasheed mocked the idea of a “black and brown coalition” standing up to racial oppression, appearing to imply that Latino and African American people are not on the same side of the struggle.

The tweet began trending in the US as it was undergoing severe online scrutiny.

Most commenters were simply taken aback by the use of the term ‘white Hispanic’, with which Nasheed tried to classify Latino people with lighter skin tone.

The producer was also accused of “attempting to incite a race war” for using the term“race soldier.”

At the same time the concept of Latino anti-black racism did find some support online, with people postulating that “Hispanic is not a race” but an “ethnicity.”

In his tweet, Nasheed appeared to be referring to Monday’s incident in Los Angeles County. It began with deputies chasing a black man for riding his bicycle in violation of vehicle codes. Having been caught, the suspect punched an officer, and then dropped a handgun, according to the Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Dean. As deputies spotted the pistol they both opened fire, Dean said.

Besides his Twitter exploits, Nasheed is mainly known for producing documentary films on racism. He is sometimes accused of being a ‘race-baiter’, allegedly sensationalizing stories by focusing on their racial aspects. Nasheed tried to reclaim this moniker for himself, by saying he simply “baits racists and exposes them.”

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