It is common for Asians, Indians, and Arabians to open restaurants, beauty supply stores, mini markets and gas stations in predominantly black neighborhoods. Unfortunately it is also common for those individuals to require you to spend a minimum amount of money in order to use a debt or credit card in their stores, which is illegal. It is also unfortunate that they are sometimes disrespectful to the customers that patronize their businesses.

A Korean gas station owner was known for disrespecting his black customers even though the gas station was located in a predominately black neighborhood. Customers said he overcharged for gas, called black female customers bitches, and went through their purses before they left his store. One day the station owner, Thomas Pak, decided to insult the wrong man. In December of 2011 Jeffery Muhammad, the Dallas representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, visited this gas station. Muhammad pointed out to the owner that it is illegal to have a spending minimum requirement in order for customers to use a debit or credit card. Pak then became verbally abusive telling Muhammad to “go back to Africa” and calling him a monkey, a slave and a “broke ass n*gger”.

I’m sure you can assume Brother Muhammad did not take Pak’s disrespect lightly. A protest was quickly organized which became known as, “Don’t Stop, Don’t Shop”, which caused Pak to lose a lot business. Pak later issued a tearful apology on the news which was not well received by the black community. Happy to say the gas station is now black-owned.

Do not allow people to come into your community, take your money, never invest a dollar back into your community and then have the audacity to disrespect you and brothers and sisters. Use your pockets to fight back and teach them how to earn money in their own communities, the communities they’re actually investing in.