COLUMBUS, GEORGIA: A White therapist in Georgia has been dismissed after a video capturing her questioning a Black man who was fishing in the lake near her residence went viral. The footage, which has amassed over 7.5 million views, shows the therapist, identified by her employer Sea Glass Therapy as Tanya, approaching Anthony Gibson and a friend.
Tanya initiates the conversation by asking if they are residents. Gibson's friend responds by questioning "Are we bothering you in any way?", to which Tanya replies, "I just have to ask."
Who is Anthony Gibson?
Gibson, an aspiring actor who currently manages multiple social media channels featuring memes and fishing content, posted the video of the encounter on TikTok. In the video, Tanya tells him, "This lake is for residents only. So..." and threatens to take a picture of their license plates for further action. Gibson, frustrated by the encounter, captured the incident on camera and said, "OK, so this is what I go through. This is the third person. I'm in my own neighborhood, and a White person came and bothered me while I am fishing. Another white person bothered me while I was fishing." As she walks off, he yelled, "Hey, don't leave now! Do you live here? Where's your address? This is unbelievable."
'We are young, and Black!'
In response to the incident, Sea Glass Therapy, based in Newnan, announced the termination of their business relationship with Tanya. In a statement shared on Facebook, the company emphasized, "'Sea Glass Therapy is a place of acceptance, healing, and inclusion of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or background. We stand against discrimination of all forms. We have terminated our business relationship with the Independent contractor, Tanya, in order to uphold our values and standards. We strive to be a service to our community and do whatever we can to accommodate the needs of it, operating with integrity."
Gibson has documented previous encounters with local residents, and he and his friends say that the affluent White community cannot accept that a group of Black people live in their midst. In another video shared by Gibson, a White man claiming to be a member of the Home Owners' Association asked whether they lived in the neighborhood while refusing to provide his own address. On June 10, 2023, Gibson posted a video filmed at night, demonstrating that the police had been called. "The same people are harassing us because we are young, and Black," he said. In the clip, he wrote, "Harassed by neighbors and police because I can’t fish in my own neighborhood!"
