Was this Black woman racist? What should've I done?

Question

I’m a Mexican guy; I never get any complaints about my English. The other day in San Antonio, Texas, I went to Church’s Chicken. I was alone, so I hadn’t even opened my mouth, I wasn’t talking to anyone. I was approaching the counter, and this Black woman pops up her frog-ugly eyes at me, and abruptly turns around before I could say anything. She yells out “I don’t have time for translations, you take care of this”. Immediately this White girl comes to take my order in English since that’s the way I was going to order anyway.

I was so shocked, I just ordered and left. What should’ve I done?

Answer 1

You should have talked to a manager immediately. Get the name of the employee and the manager and then go home and write a letter or email to Church's corporate. I would not write the letter in an angry tone but instead in an offended tone. No threats or anything like that. Just let them know that you were offended by the behaviour of that employee. Also let them know that you informed the manager.

Don't let the manager know that you are going over his/her head after you talk to them. This is a nice little catch for the managers who try to sweep stuff under the rug. Some managers will act like they will take care of things but then forget it all happened. Most corporate places have strict rules in place about how stuff like this is to be handled. If the manager skips the steps and then corporate calls about it and find that the manger skipped the steps, then the manager is in trouble as well.

Answer 2

Man you shouldnt be taking this kind of heat from no one buddy wether they are having a bad day, they are just ignorant or they are simply A**holes racists. I'll tell you one thing for sure if that were me in your shoes I would of fired back at her I am not going to stand back and let people make assumptions on my expense just because they see me the way they wanna see me. She is so lucky it wasnt me instead of you or she is also lucky I wasnt around there when that happened. You shouldnt have stand for this disrespect she should have given you the benefit of the doubt of wether you knew English or not, and in the case you didnt know English "she" should have discretely had gone to the back and tell somebody to come and take your order. Well theres nothing more that you can do now you should have taken action immediately but all I'm saying next time do something about it you are a human and you deserve respect as a consumer and as a person. Good Luck

Answer 3

You should have asked to talk to the manager. When the manager arrived, you should have lodged a complaint against the woman who treated you this way. She was extremely rude and unprofessional. She made a judgment about you simply by your appearance, without even having had the chance to hear you speak. She displayed laziness, for she didn't bother to take the time to try to take your order, but told the other girl you needed a translator just so that she wouldn't have to take your order. This is laziness, rudeness and unprofessionalism at its greatest - not to mention the fact that what she did had the effect of making a person who is just minding his own business and trying to order some food, feel ashamed and belittled by the one who is supposed to serve him. This employee needs to be called on what she did, and it is not too late to call the store and file a complaint with the manager. You can also go online at
http://www.churchs.com/
When you get to that site, you have to just click on the middle of the page on the square box, and a menu will pop up. Click on "Company", then "Contact Us", then click on the little circle that says "Make a Church's Restaurant Specific Report". When you do this, it will let you choose the EXACT place where you ate, and you can detail your experience there. This is a good way to issue your complaint, and the company will investigate this and take appropriate action.

This is not about getting even with someone who treated you badly. This is about calling attention to a restaurant whose employee behaved horribly and demonstrated horrible customer service. What she did not only reflects poorly upon her employer, but it can diminish profits for that particular restaurant because if she treats others as she treated you, sooner or later, people will not want to eat there as often. Word of mouth will hurt that restaurant. I boycott a particular McDonalds near my home because their customer service is horrible. I will go a tiny bit further out of my way to go to the McDonalds where I can get much better service. So you would be doing this restaurant a favor by telling them what happened and by filing a complaint. If they are a decent restaurant, they will want to make it right with you and will offer you some free coupons or do something else to make it up to you. If they don't do that, then at least you have brought a customer service problem to their attention so that they can make efforts to fix the problem.

Answer 4

She was racist and stereo typed you,I would have asked for the manager and complained.
How ever i detect a bit of stereo typing or racism from you " this Black woman pops up her frog-ugly eyes at me"

She may have had a bad day or met a Mexican that did`n`t speak English very well but she had no right to attack you all the same

Answer 5

I would've reported her, and complained that she not only was racist, but stereotypical and not providing satisfactory customer service. But I am one who is much harder on black racists than any other race. Why? Because it seems to me that blacks can call racist so easy, but then turn and be the EXACT thing they're so passionately advocating against. Its disgusting, its a double standard and it has to stop. I get on them, because I get sick of people judging ME because I am black and thinking I will play the race card.

She was completely inapropriate, and that shouldn've been tolerated. I'm a letter writer, I would sit down just as happy as I please and write a letter to the owner, the manager and her supervisor. Go back and get her name, and report her.

It might sound harsh, but oh well. That is what I would do. You know, this may sound crazy, but I think people are often just like children. Ever noticed how the not so cute girl got made fun of in school, but as soon as everyone else started in on the fat kid, she would join too instead of coming to the fat kids defense? Joining in on jeering or ignorance gives one a sense of belonging, because in that moment at least you arent so bad and you are accepted into the "elite" group. Its the same thing with racism and discrimination. One group doesnt like it, but doesnt stop from participating in marginalizing another. Its sad, and quite disgusting.

Answer 6

You should notify the management of the store. If possible, do this via phone call and then again in writing. She may possibly be racist but she most definitely is rude and offensive. Certainly her behavior was completely unacceptable and you deserve some sort of compensation even if it's only an apology from the company. And the company deserves to know the type of people they have working for them as they're sure to lose business with employees like her.

Answer 7

I would have stated that I speak English perfectly fine and walked away. I wouldn't have ordered food, even if the person who took your order apologized. You could have asked for the manager as well.

Better not to get too angry, but complacency is also a problem. It's a fine line.

Was she racist? Was she having a bad day? Does it matter?

People here are saying some racist things here as well. ignorance is not cute.

Smacker, that is not (correct) Ebonics. You are a fool.

Answer 8

You did just fine. You can't change people who are rude and hostile by nature, and, unless you get a charge out of futile arguments, you gain nothing by trying. Since the Hispanic population is the majority at about ten times that of Blacks in San Antonio, it doesn't seem like a problem that is likely to come up all that often. I would guess that her hostility was more political than racial in nature.

Answer 9

May be she is speaking from expriencing! u getta admitt that there are alot of Mexicans in America who don't speak English -and who don't even want to learn English --so everywhere they are two languages (press 1 for english -press 2 for spanish)

But she could just be more considerate and see first if u speak spanish or english -or she could say it in a polite way "she will take your order" --

But u getta now that Texas isn't one of the best places for Immigrants --Texas is a very racist, hardcore American -cowboy city --go to Westcoast or Eastcoast --even Midwest ppl are better!

Answer 10

You were treated rudely. This type of behavior requires the manager's intervention. That woman made an assumption and proclaimed it to the world. Regardless of your command of English, she should have treated you properly by taking your order or getting help if needed (and it wasn't).

Complain to the manager. You are probably not the first customer she has treated this way. However, leave the comments about her appearance to yourself. Take the high road.