A former fast food manager who admitted to calling two Black coaches the N-word said his "anger issues" led to the racist outburst in earlier this month.
Brett White, 22-year-old ex-Wendy's manager, was arrested for hurling racial slurs during a verbal argument with Donte Adams and Denzel Washington, who are both Woodstock Academy basketball coaches, per WVIT. During a Tuesday (February 21) court hearing, White confessed to saying the N-word but claims he's "not a racist person."
“I just have bad anger issues. I am more of an a**hole than anything. I am not a racist person. I try not to be racist,” White told the court. “I should take better care of it, but from one instant led to another instant to another instant... I should not have used that word.”
On February 9, Adams and Washington took their team to a Wendy's in Plainfield, Connecticut following a game. White reportedly refused to serve the team, and when the coaches tried to talk to him about it, that's when he hurled expletives and racial slurs at them.
Plainfield Police responded to the restaurant and arrested White for breach of peace. He was arraigned Tuesday in state Superior Court and now faces two additional charges: third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias, a felony, and deprivation of a person's equal rights and privileges, a misdemeanor.
Adams and Washington told reporters they were baffled by White's excuse for his actions.
“If we weren’t Black, what would be the language that was used? How was this not a racial thing?" Washington said. "If we were anything else. If we were not African American, would you still have called us that racial slur in the way that you did?”
“Anger issues can be handled in a different manner,” Adams said.
The two coaches said they received an outpouring of support from Woodstock Academy, the community, and across the country following the incident. They even described a basketball game where the opposing team wore shirts saying, “Griswold stand with Woodstock #endracism.”
The franchise organization that owns Wendy's in Plainfield confirmed White no longer works for the company in a statement to WVIT.
White is due back in court on April 3.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.