An Air Force veteran of 18 years is asking how a Starbucks employee in Vacaville, California switched his name from John to Chang.
Johncarl Festejo ordered his coffee through an app that clearly lists his first name as Johncarl, reported KCRA.
“A few minutes later I was just waiting in that area and next thing, you know what, I hear ‘Is there a Chang here? We have, is there a Chang? We have a hot cocoa,’” the Filipino American said to CBS5.
Although Ching Chong is much more common, Ching Chang Chong is used as a racial slur to ridicule Asians.
When Johncarl didn’t respond, the employee then repeated it.
“I said, ‘Ma’am, is this my order? Because my name is not Chang.’ She responded that could it have been my name on the app,” he said to KCRA. “So, I double checked my Starbucks app. It says my name. I just asked, ‘Is this some kind of joke? For real? Like, come on now.'”
The employee has been put on leave pending an investigation by Starbucks.
“We have a zero-tolerance stance on discrimination of any kind, and the experience in question was not reflective of our mission and values,” a spokesperson for Starbucks said. “We have reached out to the customer and shared our deep regret for their experience, are conducting an investigation into the matter and will take the appropriate actions.”
Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs released a statement condemning the incident.
“While we don’t have all of the facts regarding the alleged incident, we find the story disturbing if it was true. APAPA believes in the importance of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and will strongly condemn any instances of racial bias and stereotyping.”
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RE: Air Force Veteran Accuses Starbucks of Referring to Him by Racist Name: Once at the local Safeway store in San Francisco, an African-American checker who rang up my groceries called me “Mr. Chink” repeatedly. My last name is “Ching”, but she kept making the ‘g’ into a ‘k’.
I reported her to the store manager, and from that point on, I never saw her working there again.
Moral of this story: We Asian-Americans need to call out these people who use such racial slurs against Us. Speak up like this Air Force veteran and I did!!!