The stickers identified several East Austin businesses – which were not complicit in the stunt – as being “exclusively for white people; maximum of 5 colored customers; colored BOH (back of house) staff accepted.” The stickers also featured a City of Austin logo and claimed to be “sponsored by the City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program.”
In a YouTube video titled “Why I Did It,” outspoken criminal defense attorney Adam Reposa lays out his reasons for placing the stickers around the area.
“Why I did it is pretty clear because it would be obvious that even though people know the real problem – and the problem is people without money are getting (expletive) – they’re getting pushed out, and pretty quick, this area of town is turning into whites only – not by law like it used to be,” a shirtless Reposa says.
He also said he knew that some people would miss the social commentary of the stickers – decrying the gentrification of East Austin – and instead would point to blatant racism for the use of the term “colored."
“Everyone’s going to jump on, ‘That’s racist, that’s racist.’ Man, this town the way (expletive) works is racist.”
“I knew that I could just bait all of y’all into just being as stupid as you are – just allowing the issue to be framed in the most simple way. ‘Oh, he said an offensive term.’ Let’s not worry about the actual condition of way things are. Let’s worry about an offensive term.”
Raul Alvarez, board president for the East Austin Conservancy, was among those who saw the stickers as a response to gentrification in the community.
“I certainly share the concerns about the history and culture and affordability that’s being lost because of the rapid development, but our organization tends to focus on what it is we can do to preserve what makes East Austin unique and not focus on strategies that divide the community,” he told the Austin American-Statesman.
Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP, called the stickers “absolutely stupid.”
“Don’t put signs like that on people’s doors because you want to bring attention to your plight,” Linder said.
The self-proclaimed “DWI King,” Reposa has attracted attention from local and alternative media outlets, as well as the Internet, for his bizarre ads and videos that are uploaded to YouTube.
In one commercial for his lawyering services, Reposa bastes himself in oil while wearing only a pair of underwear. In another ad, he slams his truck into a smaller car, screaming “I’m a lawyer!” The State Bar of Texas rejected the ad, citing a “lack of decorum” and “behavior unfitting a lawyer.”
On his website, Reposa notes his unwillingness to accept plea deals in which his clients must admit guilt, as well as his willingness to go to trial and strategy of making cases as excruciating as possible for prosecuting attorneys.
