Although Malaysia is a melting pot of culture, hopefully, none of us ever experience racial hate this intense.
As reported in KCBD, a Thai restaurant owner, Rungsri Rittiluechai, in Lubbock, Texas, expressed his worries on the restaurant’s Facebook page after a hateful note was left at their counter during lunch last Friday, Nov 22nd.
The post was a picture of a message that was written on a napkin. It reads, “If you’re going to live in America, learn to speak English or go back to where you came from!”
Rungsri didn’t expect the post to go viral with 14K responses from netizens. The post sparked outrage and customers lined up to the restaurant to show their support. According to customer Brian Maines, he was glad to see the parking lot full of local customers and supporters.
“I can see that I’m not the only one, this parking lot is full, it’s really, really encouraging, and I think that’s what Lubbock is all about,” he said.
Some even came and wrote positive messages on napkins such as, “No English, no problem, all love”, “We love you! Thank you for being in Lubbock because you add so much to our community”, “Diversity makes strong communities! Thank you for being a part of our community.”
Rungsri said in an interview with Everything Lubbock that he was hurt by the message but the kind comments in his post cured his wounds.
“I was torn down a little bit,” said Rungsri, “[but] the response from the customers helped a lot.”
“I’m overwhelmed by what people had responded with, and I’m thankful for that.”
Thai Thai Restaurant has been running since 1988, and they had never received such a complaint before. The owner has lived in the USA much longer than he had in his own home country. Rungsri had moved into the country when he was 24 and the place is now his home.
“All of my kids are born here, they went to Lubbock High, they graduated here. My daughter graduated in Texas. This is my home.”
In the comment section, encouraging messages were shared by locals that warmed our hearts.
“I’m glad to see that good-hearted Americans are still here, and I am thankful for that. I love you all” Said Rungsri at the end of the interview.What do you think of this story? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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