Horrifying footage has emerged from Florida which shows a Spanish speaking Burger King manager being racially abused by customers.
In the video, taken in a Eustis restaurant approximately 40 miles north of Orlando, a female customer seated with another woman can be heard telling manager Ricardo Castillo to, ‘Go back to Mexico if you want to keep speaking Spanish’.
Castillo, who is of Puerto Rican descent, had reportedly been speaking in Spanish with another colleague. The two women said they had a complaint to make and, not knowing what it would be about, Castillo offered to assist. It was at this point the racist remarks were made.
In the footage, Castillo can be seen chastising the woman for her ignorance, stating:
Guess what ma’am? I’m not Mexican, You’re being prejudiced and I want you out of my restaurant right now.
Customer Neyzha Borrero recorded the altercation and shared it online, with the footage having been viewed over 43,000 times at the time of writing.
For the video caption, Borrero wrote:
This just happened right in front of me!!!! I had to record!!! “This is AMERICA! we speak ENGLISH” “GO BACK TO MEXICO. Speak “Puerto Rican” or “Mexican” at home!” Puerto Rican Manager at Burger King gets discriminated only because he spoke to his employee in Spanish in front of them. #burgerking #discrimination.
People have been left shocked and upset by the incident, with one commenter noting:
It truly is amazing at how IGNORANT some people are. I think it’s a real blessing to be able to speak MORE than one language these days because of America being such a culturally diverse country
Borrero, who is from Puerto Rico, has told NBC News how she wasn’t surprised by the woman’s abusive comments:
I am able to speak both English and Spanish.
There are people that can speak other languages. They shouldn’t feel discriminated in their country. They should be proud they can learn another language and contact more people.
Speaking with The Daily Commercial, Castillo said:
I can’t believe that at this age there’s still people like that.
We’re all the same. We’re all human beings. We bleed red.
According to NBC News, Burger King spokesperson Dori Alvarez has made the following statement:
There is no place for discrimination in our restaurants.
We expect employees and guests to treat each other with respect.
The owner of the Eustis restaurant is reportedly now looking into the incident.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.