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Business owner faces backlash after purchasing a Black Lives Matter billboard

A businessman in Houston isn’t backing down despite facing backlash after he purchased a bilingual billboard in English and Vietnamese in support of Black Lives Matter.

“It supports the simple of the Black Lives Matter movement to stop racism and injustice for all,” Hoang Nguyen, an insurance agent, said on Facebook. “I believe every life matters. But, if we do not stand up for the lives of those most marginalized, how can we say that all lives matter?”

Nguyen says that since the billboard went up he’s received threats from some members of the Vietnamese community to boycott his business and even to lynch him.

A town hall to discuss the billboard scheduled for Saturday had to be cancelled out of fears by some businesses that it would spark protests.

“We’re here together to help both sides educate each other — why they support it, why they are against it — and together, we can sit down in our community so we can be peaceful,” said Tran Quoc Anh who had organized the town hall.

The president of  president of the Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinities told the Houston Chronicle the shopping mall owner feared protests could disrupt his tenants.

Despite the cancellation, several still showed up for the town hall.

“As a representative of the Asian community and a local state representative, my stance is that bigotry or hatred of any kind in this city of diversity, immigration and tolerance simply will not stand,” State Rep Gene Wu said to the Houston Chronicle.

However, some said the billboard puts the Vietnamese American community in the wrong light.

“We are not against Blacks or any race here,” Bang Nguyên. “Why is it that they decide to bring it here? It’s more of a political thing than anything else. They give the Black community the wrong message that the Vietnamese community are racist or against Blacks, and that is not correct.”

To that, Nguyen says “I grew up being called names,” “I was in jobs where I was limited by the color of my skin. That is why I support stopping racism and injustice – period.”

He says his next billboard will be less controversial. He told Click 2 Houston it will support first responders.

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