Over the weekend, the landlord at a Mississippi RV park admitted to evicting a couple because of complaints from the couple’s neighbors that they were interracial.
Landlord Gene Baker told The Clarion-Ledger that he asked Erica Flores Dunahoo and her African-American husband, Stanley Hoskins, to leave his RV park in Tupelo because “the neighbors were giving me such a problem.”
Dunahoo, who is Hispanic and Native American, explained to the paper that she and her family moved into the RV Park in February.
“We were trying to save money to get our life on track,” she said.
“He was real nice,” she said, referring to Baker. “He invited me to church and gave me a hug. I bragged on him to my family.” But after paying her rent of $275 on February 28, Baker called with bad news.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me you was married to no black man,” Dunahoo recalled Baker saying. “Oh, it’s a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my mother-in-law… They don’t allow that black and white shacking.”
Dunahoo pointed out that they were not “shacking,” they were married. Baker reportedly insisted that it is “the same thing.”
“You don’t talk like you wouldn’t be with no black man,” Baker allegedly said. “If you would had come across like you were with a black man, we wouldn’t have this problem right now.”
Dunahoo explained that her husband served for 13 years as a Sergeant in the National Guard. Dunahoo said that Baker returned the couple’s rent, and that they were in the process of looking for another RV park.
Dunahoo then contacted the Mississippi NAACP and an investigation was launched.
“Racial discrimination should be a thing of the past in Mississippi, considering our long history,” Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson pointed out. Baker later said that her had no problem with interracial couples, and that his church allowed mixed couples to attend. Mixed couples just cannot become members of the church.
When asked if he would allow another interracial couple to stay in his RV park, Baker replied, “I’m closing it down, and that solves the problem.”
Featured image via The Clarion-Ledger
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