A Black business owner in Oregon says he fired his entire white staff after alleged racial harassment targeting his family

A Black business owner in Oregon claims he fired his entire staff of white employees after he and his family were targeted with racial harassment in his community. The man shared his decision in a TikTok video posted to an account called Black Man in the Wilderness, as reported by The Nerd Stash. He says he operated his business in Roseburg and now plans to move it to California.

According to the business owner, he and his family had been targeted by white supremacists in Roseburg, a city in Douglas County. He claims local authorities failed to address the harassment and specifically criticized the county sheriff, alleging the sheriff knew what was happening. The business is not named in the video, and the harassment he describes has not been confirmed publicly.

The man says he employed more than 20 people and paid them over $25 an hour. He claims he decided to let every one of them go, as he was tired of how his family was being treated. “I’m gonna punish the whole town,” he said, adding that he would take his talents to California, and he closed by telling other Black business owners to “let your white employees go.”

The business owner says Roseburg will feel the loss, but viewers are split over the firings

Reactions to the video were sharply divided, as some viewers focused on the harassment he described while others zeroed in on the firings. A number of commenters sympathized with the owner, criticizing what they described as racism in Douglas County and backing his decision to relocate. Some went further, endorsing the idea of Black business owners hiring only from within their own communities.

Others argued that his response amounted to the same kind of discrimination he says he faced. Several viewers questioned whether firing workers over their race is even legal, while a smaller group framed the video as evidence of a double standard in how race-based decisions are judged. The man claimed his former staff was understanding about the decision. However, that claim could not be confirmed.

Roseburg is the county seat of Douglas County in southwestern Oregon and has roughly 24,000 residents, a large majority of them white, according to census figures. No response from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to the owner’s claims about its handling of the harassment has been reported, and the man has not named the people he accuses.

Although Oregon is an at-will employment state, federal law limits the reasons an employer can use to let workers go. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 generally covers employers with 15 or more employees and bars firing workers over their race, a protection that applies to workers of every race. Oregon’s own anti-discrimination law reaches employers with as few as one worker.

If the owner’s account of his staff size and reasoning is accurate, the firings could expose him to legal claims from former employees. The question of when race can factor into employment decisions has also reached major corporations, as seen with Nike’s diversity policies drawing a federal investigation. The Roseburg case, however, involves a single owner describing his decision openly on camera.

The owner has not said where in California he plans to reopen, and any former employees who come forward could shed more light on how the firings were handled.

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the former employees’ side of the story, as this account originates solely from Black Man in the Wilderness’ TikTok video.