‘Excuse Me?’: White Woman Rejects $500 from Good Samaritan, Then Drops a Stereotype About Black Men So Wild It Sucked the Joy Out of the Whole Video
A trip to Target turned into an unexpected and concerning viral moment for JoJo Ozougwu, a former NFL linebacker turned “kindness influencer.” The former college football player has taken up a career as a content creator who hands out money, gift cards, and sometimes even flowers to strangers and films their reactions. His Instagram is full of feel-good vibes and videos—except for one. A woman is captured on video at a Target by a social media influencer. (Photo: Instagram/jozougwu) Over the summer, he encountered a white woman who declined his $500 offer after she showed a small kindness. Her explanation was so befuddling that it sparked a debate about race in the comments. In a July 26 Instagram reel, Ozougwu pretended that his card had been repeatedly declined when he tried to buy $2.80 worth of candy at the self-checkout aisle of a Target. Grabbing the attention of a white woman next to him, he asked, “Excuse me, did your card decline, too?” ‘Will Start Murdering’: South Carolina Man Sent Death Threats to Minnesota Prosecutors After White Woman Charged for Calling Black Boy a Racial Slur Falling for the ruse, the woman offered to pay for his candy, the type of small, everyday kindness he loves to reward with big gestures. What happened next threw viewers for a loop. After offering her a $500 Target gift card, she responded, “Oh, love, that’s OK …” “If you can do anything to promote kindness,” she continued, “and especially to let young Black men know that they can stop killing each other.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jojo Ozougwu (@jozougwu) After uploading the video, the comments began rolling in. Viewers debated whether she was intentionally racist or simply unaware of her “tone deaf” comment, one that reinforced stereotypes about Black men and was wildly misplaced for the situation. “Yo I’m on the verge of tears…” wrote one commenter. “Then homegirl just ambushed with the Black on Black crime … I haven’t laughed this hard in mad long.” Others, feeling robbed of their feel-good moment, lamented: “It was going so well 😭😭😭😭” “'Tell young black men to stop killing each other’ is her words of advice after he gives her $500? How is that advice helpful or inspirational in any way? How is it relevant to what she just experienced?” asked one, adding, “It’s an ignorant statement to make on its own. Completely tone deaf, even if her intentions were good.” Even the few who came to her defense asked, “Was the end even necessary?” Another chimed in, “She’s probably not racist, but idk why we’re pretending like that isn’t hella out of pocket.” As one person summed it up, “Girl, what?!?!”
