Photo courtesy of Trinity Bethune/ Facebook.
Trinity Bethune may seek legal action after a racist employee at a Honda dealership in Lumberton, N.C. photographed her and mocked her on Facebook, WTTV reports. The twenty-one-year-old bought her first vehicle on her own only to have a picture of her with her new car posted on social media calling her “Bon Quisha.”
Bethune, who works in a nursing home as a personal care assistant, said that she was excited about buying her first car. But when she looked on the dealership’s website to see her picture, she was mortified that they had mocked her by calling her “Bon Quisha” instead of using her name.
“Congratulations to Bon Quisha on her 2016 Toyota Camery.”
The nursing home assistant said she was offended by the post and called it racist.
“The name ‘Bon Quisha’ seems like a stereotype for someone, you know, for them to be like ghetto,” said Bethune said. “It’s something people use towards Black people as a racial slur and as an offensive term…I feel like my character was played with. I mean, I think I carry myself in a very well manner.”
After she saw the post, Bethune was hurt and left a comment letting the dealership know that she did not appreciate their racist caption.
“I’m not sure if this is a “joke” or something but my name is definitely Trinity Bethune,” wrote Bethune. “I’m very offended by this post, it’s almost a racial slur. If I’m not addressed by MY name then please don’t address me at all.”
The caption was changed after she left her comment and eventually erased, per the Charlotte Observer. Her brother, Tyrone Jacob, posted a screengrab of the racist post to Facebook shared by The Shade Room, and it quickly went viral. The post also went viral on TikTok.
“This is not how I planned to congratulate my little sister on her first car purchase,” he wrote. “This is completely intentional, disgusting, unfair, and many other adjectives I could use to describe this situation. Rather than responding like a “Bon Quisha,” I’m responding like a Karen. This was not a mistake. With the exception of the letter “N,” her name is spelled using the first row of the keyboard.
Typing Bon Quisha requires effort and intent. I’m outraged that she was publicly humiliated without a public/private apology. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple of my colleagues in the legal space, but please tell me if this is something my family should explore. She’s not well at the moment. If you know her, please send love her way.”
The dealership apologized and said that the employee who made the post has been terminated.