By now you’ve probably heard of Sierra “C-Babi” McCurdy, the former Subway sandwich shop worker who jubilantly tweeted “GOT ‘EM” (in all caps) upon hearing the news that two police officers in Hattiesburg, Miss., were shot and killed by four black men during a traffic stop.
The tweet, which has been preserved as an image file (below), reveals McCurdy’s fondness for icons (there are three handguns after “Got ’em”), but it also reveals a serious communication problem. To the degree that Sierra McCurdy represents the low-information segment of the black community, the nation’s leadership and media are failing in their handling of the allegations of police brutality.
A second social media message by McCurdy, this one posted to her Facebook page, reveals she has a distorted view of the events in Baltimore that made headlines over the past several weeks and, it seems, a lust for revenge.
As the Clarion-Ledger, a local newspaper, notes, users of Twitter came out in force over the weekend denouncing McCurdy’s celebratory tweet and demanding that Subway fire her, which they did Sunday.
A Subway spokesman said:
This kind of behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the values and ethics of our brand. The unfortunate choice of one individual should not reflect on the more than 400,000 honest, hardworking Sandwich Artists worldwide. The franchisee has terminated the employee, effective immediately.
That solves the sandwich chain’s PR problem, but it doesn’t address the anger and confusion of Sierra McCurdy and the untold number of blacks who think just like her.
