A City of Poughkeepsie father is raising awareness to what he says was an unprovoked incident of racism in his neighborhood. 

Bradley Nichols’ Nest camera captured the incident last Thursday when he was leaving to take his 3-year-old son to nursery school.

“The car drives by and the guy just calls us ugly [expletive],” says Nichols.

Nichols says the driver screamed out at them around 8 a.m., and then drove off. He says his toddler heard what was said but didn’t fully understand.

“He just looked and smiled, and looked at me as we kept walking. He didn’t know what was going on,” Nichols says. 

Nichols says he did not report the incident to police.

The Dutchess County man moved to Poughkeepsie from Louisiana six-years ago and says he doesn’t know the driver and doesn’t recognize the car.

“I thought it was different the further north you went, but apparently it’s not,” says Nichols. “Things may not be as bad as they used to be but still, nothing has gotten better for Black and brown people. Racism is still something that’s being passed down from generation to generation.”

The dad says his hope this Black History Month is a future where children only know about racism through books or people’s stories.