A video showing a Black Michigan man’s encounter with his white neighbor is going viral.
PJ Weaver was doing landscaping on April 20 when his neighbor, 82-year-old Donald Deibert, confronted him about the state of his lawn while making several remarks about Weaver’s race.
“This man walked over to me as I was doing some landscaping and said, you know how us white people feel about you black people when your lawn is not cut. Wtf does skin color have to do with any of this?” Weaver captioned a video of the incident on Facebook.
In the video, Weaver can be seen pulling up weeds and leaves in his yard when Deibert walks up to him, claiming the yard “builds up prejudice that already existed.”
Weaver, confused, responded that he didn't feel the state of someone’s lawn “has anything to do with Black or white,” and asked Deibert to clarify.
“When you look at the way the cities have gone downhill, what part of the cities are really going downhill? It’s the Black population largely,” Deibert responded. “When somebody moves in, and they’re a minority, which is great, like I said, I think it’s a great idea, and then they don’t maintain it, that just reinforces that stereotype.”
Weaver’s lawn appeared to be green and well-maintained in the video.
“Just because I grew up Black, that I don’t care about the lawn and stuff like that, that doesn’t make any sense,” Weaver later told local news station WNEM in an interview. “I stopped the yard work immediately because at this point, I don’t know what to trust. I don’t know this gentleman, so I’m thinking the worst at this point. And I’m like, I don’t want to have my back turned to this house.”
Weaver said his phone died before the encounter ended, but that Deibert told him something else before the camera stopped: “We don’t want you here.”
Several comments on the original video called out Deibert’s behavior and praised Weaver’s approach to the situation.
“Well that’s a new one Black people don’t cut their grass..Never heard that before,” one wrote.
“You have to learn to ignore ignorant people out there - they don’t understand it doesn’t matter what color a person is - not everyone keeps their lawn perfect,” another commented.
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