World
10:31, 19-Aug-2017
New York restaurant apologizes after receipt’s racist slur sparks social media outrage
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A New York restaurant has apologized to a Chinese female customer after an employee allegedly wrote a racist slur on the woman’s receipt and sparked outrage among netizens.
The controversy started when a Facebook user named Ziggy Chou posted a photo of the offensive receipt, which she said belonged to her friend’s mother.
Facebook Screenshot
Facebook Screenshot
Ziggy said the victim ordered a takeaway over the phone from Cornerstone Cafe on Avenue B in Manhattan’s East Village, but when she went to pay for it, she was shocked to see the receipt naming her as “Ching Chong”.
Ziggy said she called the restaurant and explained the situation to the manager by the name of Rocco, but the manager made an excuse saying maybe the server misheard the name.
The story immediately went viral and angry netizens called for a boycott against the cafe, forcing it to make a public apology on its Facebook page.
Facebook Screenshot
Facebook Screenshot
“This situation leaves me no choice than to terminate this employee for this unjustified act. It definitely does not reflect the way the Cornerstone staff or I think because of one individual’s stupidity.”
“As the manager, I still take full responsibility and I humbly ask for forgiveness to all who got offended, but most of all to the person whose heart was broke and made sad today,” the manager identifying himself as Rocco said.
Ziggy later reposted the message and asked people to take up the issue in a “civilized” way.
“Everyone, let's be civilized now. There are many people that are employed by the restaurant whose livelihoods depend on their jobs there and should not suffer because one ignorant employee thought it was ok to make a racist remark.”
But she also reiterated her determination in speaking up against racism.
“Asians clearly have a lot of work to do in terms of speaking up, especially my parents' generation. We should also not be afraid or fear speaking out for other people, too because racism against any one group of people is wrong and it is everyone’s issue!”