Lawyer Fesses Up
Local man claims responsibility for posting racist stickers on East Austin shops
KVUE — After East Austin residents and business owners expressed outrage and concern, an Austin attorney claimed responsibility Friday for stickers reading "Exclusively for White p=People" that were placed on a number of local businesses last week.
In a YouTube video titled "Why I Did It," a shirtless Adam Reposa, 40, attempted to defend himself. (Note: This video contains explicit language.)
"The real problem is that people without money are getting [expletive], they're getting pushed out, and pretty quick this area of town is turning into white only," said Reposa in the video.
However Reposa's defense of gentrification is not seen as an acceptable excuse for his actions by African American leaders. Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder believes the issues in the community run much deeper than that and said Reposa's actions only add to the problems.
"It's repugnant and also alarming and also indicative of a mentality that doesn't understand race relations," Linder said. "So if you're trying to help race relations, you just did the worst thing you could possibly do."
Reposa said he's learned to "detach from significance making," and isn't worried about offending people or stoking up racial tension.
"I've seen nothing but the emotional attachment that human beings place on events in history," Reposa said to KVUE exclusively while at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on his way to a flight. "It's regrettable and unfortunate and as soon as we can step beyond that precipice of mawkish emotionality and just look at the real facts like human beings, is the moment that we have the chance for real progress."
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