While most of us started our week dragging our feet, Aaron Schlossberg began his week by going on a racist tirade at a Midtown Fresh Kitchen because an employee addressed customers in Spanish. Now, he’s facing the wrath of the internet for his behavior and treatment of others.
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In a video shared by Edward Suazo and first reported on by Latino Rebels, Schlossberg – who the internet quickly identified – berates a Fresh Kitchen employee for not interfering in people’s conversations en Español. “Your staff are speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English,” he said. “Every person I listened to, he spoke it. He spoke it. She’s speaking it. It’s America… So I will be following up, and my guess is, they’re not documented. So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off of my money. I pay for their welfare. I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do, the least they can do is speak English.”
After making generalizations and trying to belittle others with an error-ridden speech (speaking Spanish doesn’t automatically make you undocumented and undocumented immigrants do not qualify for benefits), people came together to uncover his identity. Since then, we’ve learned that he’s a lawyer who works nearby and is fluent in Spanish, according to his bio. The swift backlash saw his firm take a hit on Yelp, with many leaving him one-star reviews on Yelp and calling him out for his bigotry.
But it doesn’t end there. At least two events will take place outside his offices. One – titled Latin Party at Racist Aaron Schlossberg’s Midtown Office – comes from Unofficial DNC and will take place on Friday. “Assuming all Spanish speakers are undocumented is not only ignorant but a little sad,” the event reads. “It’s also a little sad that Mr. Schlossberg thinks all Hispanics are on welfare. However, Hispanics are not sad people and we will gladly educate you on our culture and language by throwing a big fiesta outside your office! ♥”
The second started as a campaign to send a mariachi band to his offices. “Raising $500 to send a mariachi band to cheer up the staff and attorneys at The Law Office of Aaron M. Schlossberg Esq. P.L.L.C. after a difficult day,” the GoFundMe page started by Mark Goldberg said. “We are requesting the band to sing the famous, endearing. and warm Spanish [children’s] song “La Cucaracha,” the cockroach. We are countering hate and racism with the sound of music. Any leftover money will be used to send a delicious taco truck lunch to the staff and a copy of all federal and state statute mentioning undocumented immigrants do not qualify for welfare.”
A local mariachi band agreed to play for free, so the campaign closed. It raised $1,094. While Goldberg originally planned the event for Friday, he has decided to reschedule and to not go public with the event. In an update, he explained that “some on 4chan noticed and want to send people there on Friday to counter it.”
As we await what will come, I think we can all learn one lesson from Schlossberg: Don’t be a raging racist and the internet won’t come for you.