A Black family was enjoying a private dinner party in the privacy of their own backyard — until a White neighbor decided to turn a water hose on them and end the festivities.
Racism :
Dr. Yves Duroseau, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital, and his designer wife, Claude, had about 15 guests over on a Saturday evening for a 9-course dinner in the back garden of the gracious Forest Hills, NY home that they own. The family wanted to celebrate the recent birthday and engagement of Dr. Duroseau’s sister, Rosevony, and pulled out all the stops for the event.
The Haitian-American family invited friends of Rosevony’s from Fordham Law School, where she earned her J.D., as well as attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration, 2 bank executives, a New Jersey public schools administrator, a public defender, high-powered music industry player Rigo Morales, who co-founded the Recording Acadamy’s Black Music Collective, and Rosevony’s fiancé, the co-founder and CEO of a cybersecurity risk management consultancy. The meal was catered by chef Vanessa Cantave, who was the 2011 winner of the Bravo Network’s cooking competition show, Rocco’s Dinner Party.
All but 1 of the guests were Black or Latino.
According to The Daily Beast, the evening was coming to a close when an unidentified White woman showed up to the dinner party with a large, German Shepherd and demanded that the music playing in the backyard be turned down. However, when Dr. Duroseau didn’t comply quickly enough, his next-door neighbor (who is White) grabbed his backyard water hose and turned it on the guests, abruptly ending the celebration.
Now, the Duroseau family and their guests have filed a civil lawsuit against 48-year-old Marcus Rosebrock, stating he “created a scene reminiscent of 1960’s Birmingham, Alabama, when White law enforcement officers used fire hoses to douse, assault, and batter African Americans participating in civil rights demonstrations in an attempt to get them to comply and disperse.” The suit also claims that Rosebrock violated their civil rights under Title 8 of the New York City Administrative Code and interfered with their “right… to enjoy the ownership of real property within the City of New York, County of Queens.”
Since the water hose catastrophe, the Duroseaus have not held a backyard event and, in the words of their attorney, have essentially become “prisoners in their own home.”
As for Rosebrock, he insists that his decision to water hose his Black neighbor wasn’t racist, although he has not provided any other explanation or apology for his actions. He also says he has been subjected to death threats and harassment and fears for the safety of his children.
Interestingly, Dr. Duroseau was the first physician in the US to receive the COVID vaccine in 2020. He says he and his family now feel unwelcomed in their own neighborhood and were humiliated in front of their guests.
Was the water hose trick an act of racism or stupidity?
OK WASSUP! discusses Racism:
A White man turned a water hose on Black dinner party.
“Was the water hose trick an act of racism or stupidity?” -DJ
Both.
I had not heard about this story until now. And maybe it’s just me but it seems like there’s more to this story than what’s been reported.
For example, did Dr. Duroseau call the police on the white neighbor who sprayed his guests? If the answer is No, then why not? If the answer is Yes, then why wasn’t that white man arrested? That was a clear case of assault – was it not?