RALEIGH, N.C. — A white man who challenged a black family's use of a gated pool in a North Carolina neighborhood has not only resigned from the homeowner's association board — he's also lost his job.
Sonoco announced Friday that Adam Bloom is no longer employed by the packaging and industrial products company, saying it doesn't condone discrimination of any kind, even if it happens outside its workplace.
A video posted by Jasmine Abhulimen on Facebook on July 4, seen more than 4 million times, shows what happened after Bloom questioned whether she was allowed to bring her son to the pool in the Winston-Salem neighborhood.
Bloom also called the police. In a police recording released Friday, Bloom is heard calmly telling a dispatcher he's dealing with a "nonresident that's at the pool who refuses to leave. ... We're just asking for a form of identification."
But Bloom was wrong about his neighbor: Abhulimen owns a house with her husband a few blocks away in the development, according to county property records.
In the video, Bloom, Abhulimen and the responding officers all speak in measured tones. She accuses him of singling out her and her young son as African-Americans by asking to see her ID. Bloom, who served as chairman of the Glenridge community's private pool, responds that he asks pool users to see their identification "a couple times" each week. Posted By Ghost