Retired NBA Player Etan Thomas Shares Story of Racist Encounter on the Train

Retired Washington Wizard player Etan Thomas took to Facebook Friday, when he was denied an empty seat on a train that was later given to a white passenger.

He shared the encounter he had with a woman when looking for a place to sit after boarding the train.

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“Ok so I’m getting on the train and there are no open seats and I ask this lady if I could sit next to her (very politely and I soften my voice as to not frighten her) and she says someone is sitting here,” he recounts. “So I go to the next seat. Now, less than 2 mins later a man (who happens to be white) asks if he can sit there and she says why sure let me move my stuff.”

When Thomas confronted the woman she told him, “don’t pull the race card stuff with me. I dated a Black guy in college.”
In response, Thomas took a photo of her to share on Facebook, and she threatened to tell the conductor, overestimating her privilege.

Apparently the conductor is a huge fan of Thomas. Go figure.

Thomas’s story has since gone viral, obtaining over 147,000 likes and reactions, 4,800 comments and has been shared over 36,000 times.

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