Leaders react to racist viral video: ‘I was absolutely dumbfounded’
ATLANTA - Outrage continues after a viral video shows a Georgia athletic coach making racist remarks while visiting Atlanta.
The video has captured national attention and many are calling for the GBI to investigate the video.
"Downtown Atlanta…staying at the Omni by CNN…and I haven’t seen a white person in sight," athletic coach Mark Taylor appears to be saying in the video.
Those remarks were made in the video appearing to show the coach driving through the streets of Atlanta. Taylor claims he was visiting for a conference.
"Homeless ones on the street…every restaurant looking in is Black, every car beside them is Black. They can have Atlanta. It used to be a fun place for people to come to. They can have this place right here," Taylor appears to say in the video.
According to Taylor’s business website, he is the owner and operators of Speed Edge Sports, a training camp in Macon. It has been operating out of a space rented from a local Christian school.
Taylor trains up-and-coming athletes. Many of the clients are Black.
"You need to come up here and go hunting. Ain’t nothing but Blacks up here. Atlanta has gone down," Taylor appears to continue in the video.
"I was absolutely dumbfounded and in disbelief that this was 2023," Jamal Bryant said.
Jamal Bryant, senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is one of many across the state calling for action.
The Georgia NAACP wants the GBI to look into comments attributed to Taylor in the video appearing to threaten to hang an African-American woman. Later on, he threatens to throw one out of a 14th-story window at his hotel.
"Dr. King said it was ‘the silence of our friends’ that are most disturbing," Bryant said.
Taylor claims to have relationships with several colleges including the University of Georgia, Alabama, and Auburn.
Bryant says if that is true, he worries about the many African Americans with whom he has come into contact.
"I think he owes the Black community a wholehearted apology. I think those universities need to distance themselves from him," Bryant said.
As for the Christian school where Taylor was renting space, they sent FOX 5 a statement saying:
"We are shocked by the recent videos from Mark Taylor that have circulated on social media. We give no room for racism.
"With this said, people have associated Mark Taylor with our ministry, and that is an error. He is neither an employee of Central Fellowship Christian Academy nor a member of Central Fellowship Baptist Church. He has rented a portion of our facility to train athletes who are typically from schools in our local area. This is why our address is listed as the business address for his training company. That relationship has ended effective immediately."