Mexican Women Kicked out of North Carolina Pool for Playing Spanish Music
Racist attacks against the Latinx community are unfortunately nothing new with two of the most violent mass shootings in US history being the Pulse shooting in Orlando and the Walmart shooting in El Paso
Photos: Screenshot/TikTok/@esposatoxica
Racist attacks against the Latinx community are unfortunately nothing new with two of the most violent mass shootings in US history being the Pulse shooting in Orlando and the Walmart shooting in El Paso. While those tragic events left 72 people dead, what we see more often are racist attacks against Latinxs through verbal assaults and attacks fueled by simply sharing the same space while being visibly Latinx. There have been for too many instances of people verbally assaulted in public for speaking Spanish and now a group of Mexican women were attacked for playing Spanish music in a public pool. Veronica Ramirez and her friends were harassed on July 12 in Hendersonville, North Carolina and now social media is responding after the footage was released following the assault.
The incident was shared by Bianca Emma (@esposatoxica) on TikTok where it quickly went viral getting more than 1 million views and then Ramirez’s friend, Bonnie Corral launched a GoFundMe detailing the incident. According to Corral, the group along with some children had decided to visit the pool at Flex Fitness and Recreation center next door to Veronica’s Zumba location, Zum-garu. They paid for entry and after settling in they started playing Spanish music, like other patrons commonly do at that location she explains. One of the customers allegedly complained saying they “did not like Mexican music” and, as Ramirez states in the video, the owner confronted them “in a rude manner” then disconnected the speaker and took it with her. She then contacted the local sheriff’s department who escorted them off the premises.
To add insult to injury, Ramirez is a tenant at this facility and pays the owner of Flex Fitness $1500 monthly but the following day she allegedly arrived to her Zumba center to find a letter of eviction. The GoFundMe was established to help her find representation and to support her and her two children and so far has raised $10K toward the $100K goal.
In an update posted through TikTok, Bianca shared that she had hoped the video would lead to an apology but instead the owner and her daughters started bashing the women online. She goes to explain that video footage shows the white women at the center calling them a “Mexican bitch”. She then shares a recording of Veronica showing the eviction notice she received notifying her she had 10 days to gather her belongings and vacate the premises.
@esposatoxica Reply to @85manny05 unfortunate update. What can we do?
“Our goal is to accomplish equality in Henderson County and all surrounding areas that happen to come across this page. As well as to provide the funds necessary for representation and relocation in this matter,” wrote Corral on the GoFundMe page.
