White Woman Does a Very Racist thing, then Tearfully Cries about It

This is Gretha Stenger, a former drama director from Humboldt County, California, who is already feeling the sting of the viral nature of the internet.

She, during a quarantine protest, came out carrying a sign which said: "Muzzles are for slaves and dogs. I am a free human being." If the verbiage isn't bad enough, her hateful homemade sign also featured an image of Escrava Anastacia — “Anastasia the Enslaved”, an enslaved woman of African descent who lived in 19th century Brazil and is held in high regard as an unofficial saint in that country. Her image is always depicted in a face mask and collar.

Following this photo going viral, each of the institutions Stenger formerly worked for has since made sure to put miles of distance between her and them. The Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy (NPA) in Arcata, California, when flooded with comments about Stenger said "The person being referenced in these comments is not a current employee of NPA or HCOE. Her message does not reflect the views of HCOE or NPA."

Of course, after the fallout, as caught racists tend to do when their racism is outed, Stenger has made her way to the internet to "apologize", saying the sign was not hers but handed to her by another protester at the demonstration. This is backed up by this photo here of one Larkin Small:

Larkin, who doesn't look sorry at all, is the actual creator of the sign, which Stenger took a turn holding when those fateful photos of her were taken.

Back to Stenger, she wrote in her "I got caught and I'm sad about it post.":

"Holding that sign up at the lockdown protest was a grave mistake and I ask forgiveness from all those who I have caused pain. As I had no sign of my own, it was handed to me by another protester and a photographer took the picture before I considered the racist implications. My intent was to take a stand for the freedom of all human persons and I mistakenly held a sign that conveyed the opposite. Please know that I respect the dignity of all people and I sincerely regret any suffering it has caused."

I say save it. Anyone with any sense of common decency would have seen the monstrous nature of this sign and how completely irrelevant a sign like this is to protesting quarantine. You thought something about this sign was appealing, appealing enough to take a turn holding it, to stand by it, to let it speak for you. That in and of itself says more about you than this raggedy apology to mustered up like a caught child.

This might as well have been your sign, Gretha. Own up to your own internalized racism.