Morristown Daily Record
Awo Okaikor Aryee-Price can pinpoint the exact moment when she no longer felt safe in her community. The mother of two said it started with the racial harassment online.
The Florham Park woman told The New York Times about the negative comments about Black girls that her 13-year-old daughter would hear in her school's hallways and lunchroom.
The article was shared on a Facebook community group, triggering more than 300 racist and anti-Black comments. One included a threat to post her home address on the site with the words “let it play out.”
“I don't think I was prepared for that vitriol and violence online," said Aryee-Price, who holds a doctorate in education. "Online, someone might as well have called me the n-word in some particular cases, saying this is what happens when you're raised by animals, monkeys. One person said I should stick to making pancakes. That's a reference to Aunt Jemima.”