An owner in New Jersey has come under fire for posting a notice that reads: “Speak English or Pay $10 Extra” on the front window of his small business.
A proprietor in Clifton, New Jersey, is taking heat for posting a window sign that read, “Speak English or Pay $10 Extra.” The knife and blade sharpening shop Cutters Edge has been receiving a deluge of irate calls and nasty online reviews over the last two weeks. A number of customers have even demanded that local officials close the establishment.
“CUT THEM OUT OF YOUR HEAD FOR BEING RACIST S-T!” “RACISM IS NOT WELCOME IN NJ!” noted @iamfarias in a tweet. Jeremy Pierre was among those who raised doubts about the sign’s legitimacy, demanding, “Isn’t this literally illegal?” An overwhelming number of one-star Yelp reviews have been posted, with the owner being accused of bigotry.
“Anyone with a parent, sister, friend, or associate who speaks another language should feel enraged by this,” Keka R. said on Yelp, expressing her displeasure. I’d rather patronize a company that gets that we live in a nation with 350 official languages and that no one should be taxed for just speaking one of those languages.
In an interview with NorthJersey.com, shop owner Dave Feinberg attempted to clarify his rationale for the sign. At least twelve people called him regarding the placard while he was on the interview. After a customer “made no attempt to speak English” and spent 10 minutes of his time, Feinberg said he was frustrated and put the warning. “I should have said nothing else than, ‘Just speak English’ — or ‘Make an attempt to speak English.'” He confessed that suggesting an additional fee was a mistake.
Feinberg noted that at first, the sign was hilarious to some customers, who exclaimed, “Wow, I’m glad someone did this!” But things got worse when irate calls started jamming his line. The calls who wanted Feinberg’s business to fail were “quite vulgar,” according to Feinberg.
Feinberg took down the sign and brought up the idea of putting an apology up there after the outcry. It may be too late to fix his reputation, he conceded.
“Odd in a town that prides itself on its diversity,” Clifton council member Rosemary Pino said of the placard in her comment about the incident. She continued, “Speeches like these set us back hundreds of years.”
The community’s strong response to racism and the difficulties of sustaining a company’s reputation in the face of public uproar are both brought to light by this dispute.