An Afro-Latino Houstonian’s visit to a Family Dollar store went viral, causing discourse across social media and launching an investigation by the corporate office.
What happened at this Houston Family Dollar?
Deon “Chico” Young visited the variety store chain store to pick up a few items. While waiting in line, he overheard a conversation between the cashier and the customer in front of him, who were talking in Spanish. Unbeknownst to the staff member, Young understood what the two women said because of his Cuban roots.
On March 14, Young uploaded a TikTok video that he recorded of himself with the words: “I had to check the cashier at Family Dollar about talking that racist $#!+ about Black people in Spanish.” The clip was supposed to be an educational exchange between him and an employee at Family Dollar, but it has since gone viral with 120.6K views and counting. In the clip, the mechanic is advising the woman not to judge a book by its cover because some people who look and are Black can speak Spanish.
The woman can be heard in the background trying to defend herself in the clip before Young starts speaking Spanish to her. The worker then called for another team member because she assumed Young was recording her when he wasn’t. He turned the camera toward her with him still in the frame.
How did Family Dollar handle the incident?
On March 19, Young shared an update on TikTok that someone from Family Dollar’s headquarters reached out to him to learn more about the disappointing encounter.
“I will say that Family Dollar’s head corporate people reached out to me this morning about the situation, and they told me they would take care of the problem,” he told his followers in the video. “And I was trying to tell them that I wasn’t trying to get the lil girl fired. That was not my intention to get her fired, and it’s still not my intention to get her fired.”
During an interview with Houston’s FOX 26, Young spoke about his appreciation to the company for reaching out to him.
“Corporate called me to apologize. That made me feel good that somebody took out their time, that somebody responded to my complaint,” Young told the news station.
He added, “Corporate called me and said, ‘Man, we’re sorry, man. We’re sorry. That should’ve never happened.’ And I explained to them what happened, and they said, ‘She never should’ve even had that conversation.'”
