Warning: This article discusses racism and may be distressing to some readers.
A man has shared his experience after receiving a receipt from Chick-fil-A that contained a racial slur.
On Friday, August 23, around 8.00pm, Marquise Vanzego visited the La Plata Chick-fil-A in Maryland and placed an order through the drive-thru.
His visit, however, turned into a distressing ordeal when he received a receipt with a known racial slur listed next to the ‘guest’ section.
Vanzego took to Instagram on August 28 to post a photograph of the receipt, which displayed ‘M*nkeys L1 2583’ in the ‘Guest’ section.
He also uploaded a video of himself returning to the branch to confront the staff.
In the video, Vanzego can be heard asking a manager, “Is the guy that wrote ‘m*nkeys’ on my receipt, is he available, I want to talk to him.”
An employee replied that the colleague was no longer present but offered to provide the manager’s number.
Vanzego has since elaborated on the incident.
Speaking to News4, Vanzego expressed, “It was devastating. It just set me back years. As a Black male, we’ve gone through a lot, and it’s a constant reminder, just when you think you’re healing from a situation, someone opens that wound back up.”
He told TODAY.com that his ‘heart’ experienced ‘that little sting in it’ and he reflected on ‘all the other incidents that may have occurred that you heard on the news with racial profiling’.
Vanzego wrote an open letter to Chick-fil-A’s headquarters, voicing his ‘outrage and disgust’ over the ‘appalling incident,’ and stating he had ‘clearly communicated’ his name to the employee.
Vanzego mentioned that he spoke to the manager on duty, who ‘apologize[d] and agreed that there is no excuse and that ‘M*nkeys’ is not even close to ‘Marquise”.
He added, “This racist and derogatory labeling is not only deeply offensive, but also humiliating as a 52-year-old African American adult male. The sheer hurt of seeing that word takes me back to a painful history, one where my ancestors endured the same dehumanizing racism that was meant to strip away their dignity.”
“The fact that such a vile slur was used so casually in this day and age is a stark reminder that the trauma of those times is still very much alive,” Vanzego continued.
Vanzego recounted his conversation with the store owner on August 25, during which they mentioned having spoken with the 17-year-old employee who claimed to have ‘put down the name he thought he heard.’ The owner decided to ‘stand with him’ and chose ‘not to terminate him’.
Disagreeing with this outcome, Vanzego expressed that he believes the situation ‘could’ve been handled a lot differently’ and that the employee ‘should’ve been terminated on the spot’ and ‘held accountable for what he’s done’.
He added, “I understand, he’s a young man, he’s 17, he’s still learning but he also needs to know that there are consequences when you do things like that.”
Vanzego concluded, “I won’t be going back to the Chick-fil-A any longer. Racism is still alive.”
A Chick-fil-A spokesperson informed UNILAD, “This Chick-fil-A is independently franchised and operated. The franchisee of this restaurant has apologized to the guest. However, this experience does not meet our expectations and is unacceptable.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article and wish to speak to someone confidentially, contact the Racial Equity Support Line at 503-575-3764, available weekdays from 10am to 7pm PT. Alternatively, you can reach the Lines for Life Equity Team at [email protected].