Ranzeno Frazier, the first African-American (and youngest) chair of the board of trustees of the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, North Carolina has experienced some pretty terrible race-based insults since serving in the new position.
According to the Charlotte Post, Frazier says he received derogatory emails and text messages, including one in which he was called a “dumb n–ger” who didn’t deserve the position. “Some people felt like I was going to make this ‘the black center,’” Frazier told the Post.
“I never knew that the LGBT community had a race or a color, a specific gender or age.”
The community center has a host of financial troubles that Frazier is committed to alleviating; currently, the center only has about $600 in the bank, but owes $7,000 in state and federal taxes.
“It kind of hurt, coming from the community that I love and care about,” he said in an interview with the Post. “But it actually made me stronger in wanting to prove them wrong …. But it saddens my heart that we are still dealing with stuff like that.”
To begin, Frazier held a town hall meeting during his first week and established an advisory committee made up of members of the community that will help oversee the center’s recovery process.
“…Being what they call a ‘high-power’ black, gay man is where the problem comes,” he told the Post. “You kind of have to prove yourself before people really get to know you and give you a chance.”
