It's Above Me

About

It's Above Me is a statement said by hotel reservationist Craig L. Brooks Jr. in a Twitter viral video in which he confronts the woman who called him a n*gger over the phone by politely refusing her service.

Origin

On June 2nd, 2019, @craignofridayy tweeted the original video captioned, "I called a FUCKIN NIGGER at work… this how it played out 😂 #KillEmWithKindness" (shown below). The video gained over 158,200 retweets and 465,500 likes in two days.

Spread

On June 3rd, 2019, many Twitter users responded positively to his video applauding him for his respectful manner. Soon Twitter began adopting the line "it's above me" in support. Twitter user @edd180^[3] tweeted an image of Daenerys squinting and with a caption from the videos dialogue (shown below, left). The image received over 2,900 retweets and 24,400 likes in a day. @KeenoRome^[4] posted a similar tweet which gained over 7,500 likes and 500 retweets in a day (shown below, right).

That same day, Twitter user @allanbrocka^[1] tweeted, "Holy shit! This guy REALLY REALLY despises trans people" attaching a screenshot of Brooks previous transphobic tweets (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 1,800 likes and 395 retweets in a day. Twitter user @darrylstephens^[2] retweeted @allanbroka and said, "That gay hotel desk clerk who got called a "fucking N word" and then refused to let the racist lady check in? He's a trans-antagonist bigot and we don't support people like him. Sorry. It's below me." (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 15,000 likes and 5,200 retweets in a day.

On June 3rd, 2019, Brooks responded on Twitter with a facebook^[5] screenshot of his apology (shown below). In the apology reads,

"I understand as a gay man my comments were wrongful and my views on an isolated group of individuals is no excuse to make a blanket statement about ALL trans people. The harmful tweets were about 2 years ago, and earlier this year I went to social to attack someone else who I felt wronged me. In a moment of anger I made my tweets, and today instead of stopping and reading what the community has said, I got upset and retaliated (not the correct answer, but a force of habit). I am just a normal person who went to work yesterday to do my job, I had no idea that today I would wake up with all this of this attention. Since my rude comments in the past my trans friend and gay cousin have both spoken to me about how my words have hurt people. For that I am truly sorry…. Just as I have said “its above me now” my past statements are as well. All I can do is genuinely apologize and change my behavior. I am truly sorry. With love and light."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References