After reading a recent community thread on Tuesday, there was an increasing level of anger and an escalation of violently unfounded threats towards us and our business. People were mad that we were a Sanctuary Restaurant; encouraging others to vandalize the restaurant, burn it down or harm us. The page was pulled after several hours.
Victimization is never appropriate.
The current administration is rapidly changing and making drastic changes on both a personal and business level. For those reasons, we joined ROC, the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, become a Sanctuary Restaurant on Tuesday, January 24th.
We chose a more inclusive national program, that has been around since 2008, on our recent business trip to Seattle where I learned about them from a regional office. This was after the “Mexican wall” executive order, but 3 days before the “seven countries ban”.
ROC, the Restaurant Opportunities Center United, provides us numerous services for free, supports anti-hate/harassment dining & workplaces, and promotes one fair wage. We are in no way a Sanctuary City.
Five percent of Florida’s population is illegal immigrants. We work heavily with farms in our area that employee migrant workers, and we had concerns. ROC helps provide us with information about our employee’s rights, immigration laws, and employer rights for hiring. They give assistance in case of a raid or how to help a person who needs legal assistance. It helps us with navigating our responsibilities when working with farmers & vendors during these times. We are proud to show our workers, customers and fellow restaurateurs that we take our legal responsibilities seriously. For almost two years, we have eliminated the two-tiered wage system, which aligns with ROC’s, ONE FAIR WAGE campaign. They also teach us ways to reassure our guests when racial tension affects them in the dining room and how to move past those challenges and build a safe place where all can eat.
These are free services that a small business should not be ashamed for using. We believe in a hate/harassment-free restaurant. We want our guests to feel secure, our staff to be safe, and our business to be healthy.
Why was there such a violent reaction to us wanting a space where everyone is welcome?
Jenneffer Pulapaka
#womeninspirechange
