Macon-Bibb and Houston NAACP to comment on viral racist social media videos
Both the Macon-Bibb NAACP and Houston County NAACP say they are will address racist social media videos that have gone viral.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Both the Macon-Bibb NAACP and Houston County NAACP say they are will address racist social media videos that have gone viral.
The videos appear to show a Macon fitness coach, and they have received thousands of views and shares and hit national media blogs and accounts. The videos first appeared on Facebook, and social media users have identified the man in the videos as sports trainer Mark Taylor who runs “Speed Edge Sports” on Hawkinsville Road. We are not including these videos here, but in the videos, you hear the man, who appears to be Taylor, repeatedly using the n-word while traveling in Atlanta. In one video, you can hear him telling a black driver she will be hanged on a tree.
We don’t know how the videos ended up on social media, but they have gone viral. We tried to reach out to Taylor for comment, but he has deleted his personal Facebook page, and the phone number listed on his business Facebook page is now disconnected.
Central Fellowship Christian Academy released a statement saying Taylor rented a portion of the school — located on Hawkinsville Road — to train athletes–but that relationship has ended effective immediately.
The statement goes on to say:
“We are shocked by the recent videos from Mark Taylor that have circulated on social media. We have 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.”
The joint NAACP news conference is happening Thursday at noon at Rosa Parks Square in downtown Macon. The groups say they will address what they say is “racial hatred Coach Mark Taylor has expressed against African Americans through social media.”
41NBC will continue to follow this story. Stay with us for updates.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story referred to Mark Taylor as an athletic trainer. In Georgia, that title used by a someone who is a licensed professional. We have not confirmed if Taylor is a licensed athletic trainer.
