An example of the Latinx community being subjected to frequent racist and verbal attacks in shared spaces simply for speaking Spanish was shared in a viral TikTok video.
A Mexican family enjoying the pool at Flex Fitness and Recreation Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, suddenly found their day was cut short when they were kicked out for playing Spanish music.
The owner of the establishment allegedly confronted the family in "a rude manner" and took their speaker away from them because a White patron "did not like Mexican music."
Then the owner contacted the local sheriff's department to have the family escorted from the premises for "trespassing," even though they paid for entry.
In the viral video—posted by Bianca Figueroa, a.k.a. @esposatoxica on TikTok—family member Veronica Ramirez and a responding deputy were seen having a discussion in Spanish.
In a translated text overlay, Ramirez told the bilingual deputy:
"It hurts me to see the inequality and racism. I will explain to you what happened, and we will leave because I understand your job; you're an employee."
Although Ramirez was furious about the ordeal, she maintained her decorum and showed respect towards the deputy.
@esposatoxica Tiktok, do your thing.
"She's had music in English, and she says nothing," Ramirez told the officer, possibly referring to another guest by the pool.
"But we had Spanish music, and she came with a bad attitude and disconnected our speaker and tried to take it with her."
She continued:
"You know why she called you? Because I told [the owner] 'you're not a businesswoman. You're not intellectual because we are paying customers'."
"She should've come to us like you did, and said 'please turn off your music.' But no, she came with an attitude and forcibly disconnected our speakers."
The family complied with the officer and Ramirez told him she was "leaving for you. Because I respect you, not for her."
@esposatoxica/TikTok
@esposatoxica/TikTok
@esposatoxica/TikTok
When the footage was posted online, Figueroa said the women who initiated the conflict were "triggered" by seeing the circulating video and subsequently accused the family of being "belligerently drunk" and "cussing everyone" at the pool.
"Now do we see belligerently drunk women?" asked Figueroa.
"Do we see anyone being arrested for public intoxication? No we don't. On the contrary, we see very respectful Mexican women defending themselves for a service they paid for."
In a follow-up video, Figueroa said the owners of Flex Fitness were "bashing" the family in the comments.
She shared a screenshot of her response to one commenter—who was allegedly one of the daughters of the owner—claiming to have been called a "White bitch" by the Mexican family."
But Figueroa pointed out the member of the Mexican family used the word bitch, but only after being called a "Mexican bitch" first.
@esposatoxica Reply to @85manny05 unfortunate update. What can we do?
But it didn't end there.
Ramirez—who is a single mother of two children—was a tenant of the owner of the facility and paid $1500 a month for an apartment.
Her building was next to the pool. She said music was allowed there since she can "hear it all the time."
Now, Ramirez is being evicted with no explanation. She was given ten days to gather all her personal belongings and leave the apartment.
Social media users showed support for the family and slammed Flex Fitness and Recreation Center with one-star reviews on Yelp and Google.
As of Wednesday, Flex Fitness and Recreation Center is listed as "permanently closed," as pointed out by a Twitter user.
Whether that update is by the owner or an online troll is unclear.
Ramirez said she plans to take the facility's owner to court for how they were treated.
A GoFundMe was established by a family friend, Bonnie Corral, to help Ramirez find legal representation and relocate her and her two children.
So far, over $14K was raised of its $20K goal.
