Submission 18,939

Part of a series on White Cop-Caller Nicknames. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Golf Cart Gail is the nickname given to a white woman who was the subject of controversy, after calling the police on a black father watching his son's soccer game. Many criticized the incident, believing that there was no apparent cause for police involvement, as another example of a trend in which white people call the police on black people without reason, similar to BBQ Becky, Coupon Carl, ID Adam and more.

Background

On October 14th, 2018, Facebook ^[1] user amy.l.williams.777 posted on Facebook of incident between a white woman in a golfcart and a black father watching his son's soccer game in St. Johns County, Flordia. She wrote:

"SOCCER WHILE BLACK. A parent at my son’s soccer game had the police called on him for cheering for his son during the game. This man was simply trying to watch his son's soccer game and cheer for him from the sides. He yelled 'The ref is right!' when he saw his kid out there getting frustrated after a call. This woman, lets call her Golfcart Gail, decided to spring into action and rapidly approach this parent and remind him that harassment would not be tolerated."

The post continues that after the father decided to leave the game to avoid a situation, the woman contacted the police and told him that "she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior." The post received more than 32,000 reactions, 10,000 comments and 33,000 shares in less than one week (shown below).

SOCCER WHILE BLACK. A parent at my son's soccer game had the police called on him for cheering for his son during the game. This man was simply trying to watch his son's soccer game and cheer for him from the sides. He yelled "The ref is right!" when he saw his kid out there getting frustrated after a call. This woman, lets call her Golfcart Gail, decided to spring into action and rapidly approach this parent and remind him that harassment would not be tolerated. He informed her that he was only speaking to his son. For whatever reason, Golfcart Gail just would not let this go. She continued to harass and beleaguer this parent. The gentleman offered to leave in order to avoid a situation. As he began to pack up his things Golfcart Gail informed him that she was calling the police because she no longer felt safe with his threatening behavior. This man was peacefully leaving his own son's soccer game to avoid exactly this situation. What makes this even worse, is that a parent had actually been ejected from this game during the third period. There had to be a delay of game due to the disturbance yet, Golfcart Gail didn't need to call the police on him. Why weren't the police called? What was the difference? I'll give you a guess. Shame on you Golfcart Gail for what you did to this man and to the children who had to see this. Can you imagine how afraid his child must have been to see this happening?! Do you know how quickly in America a situation can go wrong? You probably don't care Golfcart Gail, because you have the privilege of not caring. Thank you to the officers who did respond for listening to everyone and making sure the situation was dissolved safely. So long as this s--- continues to happen, I will continue to speak out against it. Black Lives Matter. Don't ask me again why I kneel RIFF S COUNTY

Development

On October 16th, First Coast News,^[2] an NBC/ABC affiliate in Florida, published two videos of the incident, one fo the woman calling the police and the other of the father speaking with law enforcement (shown below, left and right).

Online Reaction

The incident was heavily criticized online, with many comparing the the incident to similar controversies (examples below). Twitter ^[3] @mergerson_jms tweeted, "Being black means if you raise your voice at a soccer game, a random person may feel 'threatened' and call police, when you were *telling your son that the referee was right.* And police dismiss it as "an argument" instead of misuse of 911. #GolfcartGail." Twitter^[4] user @DollyVol tweeted, "This crap is never gonna end…now we have Golf Cart Gail….smdh." Twitter^[5] user @LSpear37 tweeted, "The people who make these calls should be prosecuted for harassment."

Being black means if you raise your voice at a soccer game, a random person may feel threatened" and call police, when you were telling your son that the referee was right.* And police dismiss it as "an argument" instead of misuse of 911 . #GolfcartGail Golf Cart Gail' filmed calling cops on black man cheering on his son at socc... A woman riding past a teen soccer game on a golf cart decided to call the police on a man who was shouting out to his son on the field, say eyewitnesses yahoo.com

This crap is never gonna end...now we have Golf Cart Gail....smdh ABC News Φ @ABC In the latest incident of authorities being called on black people going about their routine lives, a youth soccer league official in Florida called 911 on an African-American father for yelling instructions at his son during a game. abcn.ws/2COJMWr 0:51

The people who make these calls should be prosecuted for harassment Golf Cart Gail filmed calling cops on black man cheering on his son at socc... A woman riding past a teen soccer game on a golf cart decided to call the police on a man who was shouting out to his son on the field, say eyewitnesses. ahoo.com

On October 17th, Redditor ^[10] stein63 posted about the incident in the /r/news subreddit. The post received more than 25,000 points (83% upvoted) and 3,500 comments.

Media Outlets

Several media outlets covered the story, including NBC^[6], ABC,^[7] The Daily Dot, ^[8] Forbes^[9] and more.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Facebook – amy.l.williams.777's Post

^[2] WTLV – New video shows Ponte Vedra's 'Golfcart Gail' calling police on soccer dad during child's game

^[3] Twitter – @mergerson_jms's Tweet

^[4] Twitter – @DollyVol's Tweet

^[5] Twitter – @LSpear37's Tweet

^[6] NBC News – White woman dubbed 'Golfcart Gail' calls police on black father at soccer game

^[7] ABC News – Black father speaks out about having deputies called on him in run-in with 'Golfcart Gail' at son's soccer game

^[8] The Daily Dot – ‘Golf Cart Gail’ goes viral after calling the cops on a Black father coaching his son":https://www.dailydot.com/irl/golf-cart-gail-police-black-father-soccer-game/

^[9] New York Post – Black dad Gerald Jones speaks out in aftermath of 'Golfcart Gail' incident

^[10] Reddit – White woman dubbed 'Golfcart Gail' calls police on black father at soccer game

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Golf Cart Gail

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Overview

Background

"SOCCER WHILE BLACK. A parent at my son’s soccer game had the police called on him for cheering for his son during the game. This man was simply trying to watch his son's soccer game and cheer for him from the sides. He yelled 'The ref is right!' when he saw his kid out there getting frustrated after a call. This woman, lets call her Golfcart Gail, decided to spring into action and rapidly approach this parent and remind him that harassment would not be tolerated."