They opened a Haitian food truck. Then they were told, 'Go back to your own country,' lawsuit says
They opened a Haitian food truck. Then they were told, 'Go back to your own country,' lawsuit says
The owners of a Haitian food truck are suing a small town in Virginia over allegations that a town council member cut the food truck's water line and screamed, ‘Go back to your own country.’
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.”
I clicked on this story by accident, but I'm glad I read it. There's some real gold in here...
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'm mad at you for getting grease in the sewer...so I will cut this line which I supposedly believe contains grease so it can go all over the street, smelling great and eventually getting washed into this very same sewer anyway!"
But Henry Nicholson, the council member, allegedly complained the food truck would hurt restaurants that buy equipment from his appliance store.
"T'is but a coincidence!"
Nicholson ... tried to block a food shipment and screamed: “Go back to your own country!” when Bastien confronted him.
“We did everything we’re supposed to do,” Bastien said. The couple came to the U.S. in the 2000s and received asylum after fleeing this hemisphere’s poorest nation. Benoir is a U.S. citizen, while Bastien is a permanent resident.
Several community members said the lawsuit unfairly maligns a town that has integrated recent immigrants into its 0.625 square miles (1.62 square kilometers).
Parksley has two Caribbean markets, a Haitian church and a Latin American restaurant
U.S. Census numbers show that 600 people identify as Haitian in Accomack County, with several thousand more on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in lower Delaware. Sangaramoorthy said the region’s Haitian population likely numbers in the tens of thousands.
Sounds like this guy isn't aware who funds this town... They must make up a large portion of the residents to have this much stuff there in this tiny little town.
“We’re waiting to see what justice we’re going to get,” Bastien said. “And then we’ll see if we reopen.”
The couple’s lawsuit is seeking compensation for $1,300 in spoiled food, financial losses and attorneys’ fees. They also want $1 in nominal damages for violations of their constitutional rights.
I wish my town was full of people as patient and civil as this couple!
She said Parksley’s Haitian food truck provided something vital — familiar foods that remind people of their homeland — to people often working long hours.
“It’s a community that is triply marginalized for being foreign, Black and speaking Haitian Creole,” Sangaramoorthy said. “They feel like they need to keep to themselves, so it’s surprising that this couple was brave to even file a lawsuit.”
How dare they?!?
Thanks for posting, OP, this was crazy!
It’s sad that people are so ignorant and racist. Could’ve made friends with a nice couple and had some yummy new food. But no, had to be xenophobic assholes instead.
If someone screamed go back to my own country at me I'd have a really hard time not punching them. And yes, I live in a country that I wasn't born in so I can totally see this happening. Luckily my second home country is full of kind people and not assholes so in the 7 years I've lived here I've never experienced something like that. The worst I ever dealt with was someone laughing when my pronunciation sucked. I just asked him in his native language how many languages he could speak. Shut him up right quick.
Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, on the "overview effect" -- the impact of seeing literally with your own eyes the beauty, fragility, and unity of the Earth as it appears from orbit:
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’”"
So a family comes to our country and does exactly what they're supposed to do: Open a business and improving the quality of life in their community.
And what happens?
Redneck shitsticks absolutely lose it.
I bet you a billion dollars I know which presidential candidate those racist fucknuggets support.
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.
And also:
_The food truck opened in June on the store’s property after the couple passed a state health inspection and obtained a $30 business license, their lawsuit stated. But Henry Nicholson, the council member, allegedly complained the food truck would hurt restaurants that buy equipment from his appliance store.
Nicholson cut the water line, causing $1,300 in spoiled food, the lawsuit said, and then tried to block a food shipment and screamed: “Go back to your own country!” when Bastien confronted him._
Could they have passed inspection if it was the alleged illegal sewage line? Can the town prove that and that grease was dumped in it? How does that differ from any other not-bright household dumping grease down the sink, because it seems likely a place where several households might do.
Oh the irony.
"...law firm it hired, Pender & Coward"
Shame they can't move to the West Coast (or to any bluer area really). There are tons of people who would love to try authentic Haitian food from a food truck - myself included. They'd probably make a killing.
Sad to see this racism.
Brought to you by the ‘if you don’t like your country, you should just move’ crowd. Good grief.
move to a city that isn't full of garbage people