Leaders in Brooklyn’s Chinese American community are responding to outrage against a local nail salon where workers are accused of attacking customers over a pay dispute, reports King County Politics.
Members of the Black community have called for a boycott of New Red Apple Nails and urged people to put their money into Black-owned businesses. They recently staged a protest in front of the salon and Assemblywoman Diana Richardson has called the incident a hate crime.
“This episode involved only one store in an area where relations between Chinese Americans and African Americans have largely been harmonious. It has nothing to do with race,” said John Chan, president of Asian American Community Empowerment.
He and other community members cautioned people not to make broad strokes assumptions about an entire community based on this one incident.
“We don’t see the action of individuals to be representative of an entire population.” said Chan at a news conference.
Surveillance video of the incident shows workers hitting customers with brooms.
Salon staffer HuiYue Zheng, 32, was arrested as well as one of the customers, Christina Thomas. She is accused of slapping, punching and dragging one of the workers across the floor, according to the Gothamist.
“We feel it is an isolated incident. I’m not trying to defend the business, but from my understanding this is the first major incident at that business, and it should be taken as is, not something bigger,” said Kenneth Chiu, Director General of Brooklyn Asian Communities Empowerment.
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RE: Chinese Americans Respond to Brooklyn Nail Salon Attack: These Brooklyn Chinese Americans are weak trash. Please remember to tell everyone that the only opinions you represent are your own. Do not disrespect the entire Asian American community by implying you represent us, because you don’t.