A Puerto Rican woman posted a video to Facebook of a racist incident at a Wildflower restaurant in Arizona during which she was told by a white woman at the next table that America should be all white and that "you will be wiped up, trust me."
Lennys Bermudez Molina, a loan officer from Scottsdale who filmed the video, said she asked if it was OK to sit next to the woman out of courtesy and was met with the reply: "Do I have a choice?"
"I was so shocked, I asked her to repeat it so I could see her face. Something in me said I should record it, too. Thank God I did! What you see next left me speechless," Molina wrote beneath the video on her Facebook page, which has been viewed more than 21,000 times.
The video of the exchange begins with Molina saying: "Well I have never been told that somebody prefers whites instead of me."
"Yes, that would be me. I'd prefer the whole freaking nation to be white. How about that?" the white woman replies as she reads a letter at the table.
Molina says: "You know that's never going to happen, right?"
To which the white woman replies: "Oh, it's going to happen. You will be wiped out. Trust me."
Shocked, Molina says: "So all I was doing was asking you if you mind if I could sit in this chair right here out of courtesy because you are reading papers."
The white lady then moves along one seat.
"But you prefer white people, not me?" Molina asks.
"Definitely," the white woman replies.
Molina says: "Definitely. So this lady's telling me that she doesn't want me to sit next to her because I'm not white. Dear lord. What has the world come to?"
In her description on her Facebook page of what happened, Molina said the incident left her "visibly shaken."
"I hate to say the political climate is to blame for someone's outrageous behavior, but I was visibly shaken today with this exchange," Molina wrote.
"I simply asked the woman if I could sit down next to her while I waited for the car to charge.
"I noticed she was attentively reading her papers and wanted to be respectful and not interrupt. I asked, 'Would you mind if I sit next to you?' Seems pretty simple. That is when things got crazy!!"
Molina said the lady was asked to leave the restaurant: "The manager of the store that kicked her out also walked me to my car for safety.
"I know that the scars of racism run deep in this great country I love. Being Puerto Rican, I am a proud American...and equally proud Puerto Rican. This lady was lucky my PR-ness didn't come out!!
"I wish for a world for my children and my children's children's to never worry about this stuff...but then again, we are who we are."
Molina told Newsweek she has not reported the incident to the police.
But she added: "It left me disappointed and scared that someone can feel so confident in their beliefs to share despite me videotaping the conversation."
Molina also said this is not the first time she has experienced racism.
"Occasionally, I have noticed minor unspoken gestures. I've seen people hold on to their purse a little tighter or lock their doors," she told Newsweek.
This article was updated to include comments by Molina and clarify her full name.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
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