466
submitted 2 years ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

A married couple who fled Haiti for Virginia achieved their American dream when they opened a variety market on the Eastern Shore, selling hard-to-find spices, sodas and rice to the region’s growing Haitian community.

When they added a Haitian food truck, people drove from an hour away for freshly cooked oxtail, fried plantains and marinated pork.

But Clemene Bastien and Theslet Benoir are now suing the town of Parksley, alleging that it forced their food truck to close. The couple also say a town council member cut the mobile kitchen’s water line and screamed, “Go back to your own country!”

“When we first opened, there were a lot of people” ordering food, Bastien said, speaking through an interpreter. “And the day after, there were a lot of people. And then ... they started harassing us.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

People are often racist dick heads, but sometimes they're actually just shutting down businesses that aren't being run in a way that is safe for workers and customers.

[-] mark3748@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 years ago

They generally don’t scream to “go back to your own country” when that happens.

[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

You don't make bigoted comments while doing the right thing? I thought everyone did that. Just the other day when I was donating blood I called 9 people various ethic and religious slurs.

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Ah yes, the most effective way to address businesses (allegedly) not being run safely is to find (only black owned) businesses, sabotage their property, and yell "go back to your own country!" How totally fair and equitable. This is totally acceptable. /s

Give me a break.

In this case it was racism plus the councilman thinking they were hurting his business leading to vandalism, and racist remarks.

[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Allegedly. That's really the key, isn't it. No need to get the rage train fired up based on what is claimed in a lawsuit that hasn't been resolved yet.

[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

You know what? The legislative branch is not charged with enforcing the law. Some random fucking town council member shouldn't be messing with town sewage lines and everyone with a basic elementary level knowledge of civics should know this. So fuck this guy, being able to vote on a budget doesn't mean you get to be a town vigilante. And I am really really not inclined to give someone with obvious rage issues the benefit of the doubt that they didn't say something stupid and mean while doing something stupid and mean.

[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Clearly you're inclined to get really mad over something that might not have even happened. Chill out.

[-] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 years ago

Was this business being run unsafely?

[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

The couple failed to apply for a conditional use permit and chose to sue instead, the law firm countered. It said the council member cut an illegal sewage pipe — not a water line — after the food truck dumped grease into Parksley’s sewage system, causing damage.

I could see how that situation would make someone tell them to take that behavior back to where it's the norm.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 7 points 2 years ago

Allegedly. That's really the key, isn't it. No need to get the rage train fired up based on what is claimed in a lawsuit that hasn't been resolved yet.

Funny how you keep flipping your argument in order to come down on the side of the councilman from this podunk little town.

[-] Garbanzo@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I'm not trying to defend anyone, just pointing out that this story is entirely based on accusations in a lawsuit. Don't get your blood pressure up over something that might not be true or accurate.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 7 points 2 years ago

Except they passed a state health inspection. Unsurprisingly, the guy who is taking issue with it sells appliances to brick and mortar restaurants.

this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
466 points (100.0% liked)

News

37342 readers
736 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious biased sources will be removed at the mods’ discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted separately but not to the post body. Sources may be checked for reliability using Wikipedia, MBFC, AdFontes, GroundNews, etc.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source. Clickbait titles may be removed.


Posts which titles don’t match the source may be removed. If the site changed their headline, we may ask you to update the post title. Clickbait titles use hyperbolic language and do not accurately describe the article content. When necessary, post titles may be edited, clearly marked with [brackets], but may never be used to editorialize or comment on the content.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials, videos, blogs, press releases, or celebrity gossip will be allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis. Mods may use discretion to pre-approve videos or press releases from highly credible sources that provide unique, newsworthy content not available or possible in another format.


7. No duplicate posts.


If an article has already been posted, it will be removed. Different articles reporting on the same subject are permitted. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners or news aggregators.


All posts must link to original article sources. You may include archival links in the post description. News aggregators such as Yahoo, Google, Hacker News, etc. should be avoided in favor of the original source link. Newswire services such as AP, Reuters, or AFP, are frequently republished and may be shared from other credible sources.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS