A woman videotaped herself Friday berating the Asian-American workers at a boba tea shop in Aurora, Colorado, accusing them of “stealing black culture once again.”
Boba tea, or “bubble tea,” according to the South China Morning Post, was created in Taichung, Taiwan, in the 1980s, and spread through Asia before becoming popularized in the United States.
The woman in the video seems to suggest the name of the shop, “Trap Tea,” has ties to black culture, though her grievances were mostly incoherent.
“This establishment is, uh, not black-owner, but using — you’re stealing black culture! Is this not black culture, ‘Trap tea?'”
When the employees protested, the woman continued to scream at them. “No, you’re thieves! Asian people stealing black culture, once again, once again.”
“It’s okay, you’ll be exposed, though,” she said. “You’re not black-owned, you’re stealing black culture.”
One of the people from the shop, an Asian male, calmly tells the hysterical woman, “Thank you for coming.”
“No, I came here because I thought it was black-owned!” she screamed in response. “That’s why I came here! I told my friends, I’m supporting a black-owned business.”
“This is not black-owned! This is not black-owned!” she repeated. “Asians stealing black culture.”
A fellow customer, a black male, calmly interjected himself into the situation, only to immediately be called a “c**n” by the irate woman videotaping herself.
“Wait a second,” the man starts to say.
“You’re a c**n!” the woman screams at him. “Don’t talk!”
“I’m a c**n?” he yells back. “But, yet, you already spent money on them! You already spent money on ’em!”
Apparently, the woman had already purchased something from the store before she flipped on her camera.
“I already did,” the woman admitted. “I already did, but —”
“I’m tired of people — ” the man starts, before the woman tells him, “Because you’re a c**n!”
According to The Post Millennial, immediately after the woman ordered, “she asked if the company is black-owned. The employee addressed her question and acknowledged that they are majority Indonesian.”
That’s when the woman berated the employees for “stealing black culture.”
Trap Tea later addressed the incident in a statement posted to Instagram (emphasis added):
Today has been an interesting day and we have received a ton of exposure. Some good and some bad but at the end of the day we want everyone to know that trap tea is about love and bringing everyone together. The name came from the appreciation of black southern culture and the grind, hustle, and drive that we put into the brand and the friends and family we have collaborated with to make that possible. The logo is a flip on the dragon ball z kame house from the popular anime show. We just want to know we don’t hate anyone and we spoke about the situation and we told her about our ideas and plans for the future. We explained that again this was about appreciation of the culture and bringing a dope spin for everyone to come enjoy something new. While also collaborating with other minorities with pop ups , merch ideas , and food to also support the community. We currently work with creative director Maurice Anderson ( @underratedphotography ) on projects and ideas and we have a mural planned showing our appreciation. Let’s keep working together as a unit. Appreciate you all for the love and support. – trap tea
WATCH:
"You’re thieves! Asian people stealing black culture once again.”
A strong, black Muslim woman went inside the new Trap Tea business in Aurora, Colo. on Friday and confronted the staff. A black customer tries to defend the business & is called a racial slur by her. pic.twitter.com/uejQ6nC8cr
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 23, 2020
H/t The Post Millennial