Stanley Hoskins spent 13 years in Army, serving as a sergeant in the National Guard. His wife, Erica Flores Dunahoo, put down the first month’s rent at a Mississippi RV park, something she says they were doing to get out of financial difficulty. Stanley and Erica moved in with their children and Erica bragged how friendly everyone had been.
Unfortunately, once the whole family arrived, the situation and attitude of RV park owner Gene Baker quickly changed. From the Clarion-Ledger:
The next day, she said, Baker telephoned her and said, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you was married to no black man.”
She said she replied that she didn’t realize it was a problem.
“Oh, it’s a big problem with the members of my church, my community and my mother-in-law,” she quoted him as saying. “They don’t allow that black and white shacking.”
Never mind they have been married for 10 years and have two children. It is, of course, illegal to discriminate based on race. Dunahoo took her story to the NAACP and they told the Clarion-Ledger they are investigating. For his part, Gene Baker says it won’t be a problem moving forward. Not because he’s had a change of heart, but because he’s decided to get out of the business:
Asked if he would rent the RV space if another interracial couple showed up, he replied, “I’m closing it down, and that solves the problem.”