(WXYZ) — Eric Vincent says he replied to a friend’s Facebook post about the current climate in America. Eventually, the conversation took a drastic turn with this post:
It says in part:
“If it weren’t for slavery you would still be in motherland Africa. Not being eaten by a lion or killed by a 12-year-old with an AK-47 working for the local warlord; those would be your problems.”
“You’re lucky to be in a country where you have to go back 300 years to find a grievance to b***h about.”
The author, a Birmingham, MI attorney named Dalen Hanna. Vincent says Hanna’s profession is all the more reason he should be held accountable for his words.
“This is somebody who’s supposed to be serving the people, helping the people of America. And when you hear things like that, that validates the disconnect that black people have with the justice system,” said Vincent.
“To sit here and say you should be grateful for the most atrocious thing that has happened in American history that was slavery. To say that black people should be grateful for that, in ANY way shape or form, I don’t care if he says that’s out of context, there’s no way you can say that to a black person and they’ll take that out of context.”
In a phone conversation Friday night, Hanna said the comments have been taken out of context and were meant to highlight his defense of America after a previous disagreement with Vincent of whether USA is the greatest country in the world.
In an email to 7 Action News, Hanna reiterated the comment was out of context and added he and his family have received death threats.
Single-star Google Reviews have started pouring in on Hanna’s law practice.
“That’s the price that you pay. I mean again, I would never, I would never want to come for anybody’s livelihood about something. But for something like this for somebody who represents the American.
