Video taking off 46x its usual first day

Ole Miss report revisits customers' accounts of dealership racism

The Root's Charity Faye Alexander brings earlier customer interviews into the discussion of racist gestures captured outside Black students' apartment.

Channel:

The Root Story of November 10, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 208,898 views a day, 46 times a normal first day on this channel (4,550).

The Connection Between this Ole Miss Student and A Racist Car Dealership | The Root

Carolyn Ward received an offensive ape GIF from a dealership salesman. In the news footage included in The Root's report, a dealership representative calls it "a disgusting act" and says the employee no longer works there.

That customer account is central to Charity Faye Alexander's Short, which connects the racist doorbell-camera footage at Ole Miss to earlier complaints involving a Wisconsin auto dealership group. Alexander reports a family connection involving a student in the campus footage, attributing her information to an unnamed source.

The report then draws on TMJ4 news interviews to recount Ward's experience and a separate incident from 2023, when customer Micaela Starks received an oil-change sticker bearing a racial slur. Ward and civil rights attorney William Sulton call for mandatory anti-racism training across the dealership group. Their demand is for training throughout the business, not simply the departure of an employee.

The Short reached roughly 98,000 views in eight hours, far beyond The Root's usual start for this format.

At Ole Miss, Jakiyra Metcalf shared the doorbell footage showing women passing the apartment she shares with other students, with two making monkey noises and gestures. The university says it is investigating. Alexander closes her report by calling for accountability and education.

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