Unfortunately, racism still shows up in places it absolutely shouldn’t, even among people sworn to protect their communities. However, the good news is that not every wrongdoing goes unnoticed. That was the case in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, where a sheriff’s deputy was fired almost immediately after posting a racially offensive message on social media while on duty.
According to The Post and Courier, the deputy was sitting in his patrol car when he clicked a picture of himself wearing a ski mask. He posted it with the caption, “To find a YN, you must be a YN.” “YN” is shorthand for “young n—–.” The slur is usually directed at Black People.
Sheriff Bill Rhyne had recently taken over the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. He said that the Deputy, who is white, made the post on the 20th of this month. By the next morning, he was gone, and so was his 5-year-old tie with the agency.
A new CBS News poll shows 75 percent of Black people think racism is a major problem in America today, while 58 percent of white people say racism is only a minor problem or not a problem at all. https://t.co/tifNySzTY9 pic.twitter.com/Pso5cOL9ZN
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 17, 2024
“That kind of stuff will absolutely not be tolerated under any circumstances at this agency under my leadership,” Ryan said in a press conference, according to WYFF. “What we do in uniform and the things and the choices that we make in uniform not only reflects on themselves, but it reflects on every man and woman that wears this uniform, not only here at the sheriff’s office, but across the entire state in the United States.”
Rhyne explained that the deputy violated policies prohibiting employees from discrediting themselves or the department, as well as rules against posting “ethnically derogatory material” online. “This is not representative of what this agency wants to be, and this is not representative of what we want the people of Spartanburg County to think,” the sheriff added further.
Rhyne didn’t reveal which platform the post appeared on. He didn’t release the deputy’s name either. He said he wanted the man to have time to inform his family before the news became public. He said, “The reason for that is I want to be respectful to them. “This is very fresh. This just happened. I want to make sure that I’m respectful enough to them, to give them time to notify family and other people prior to that.”
According to the sheriff, the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy is expected to move forward with stripping the deputy of his law enforcement certification. This step would prevent him from serving as an officer elsewhere.
