Tuxedo restaurant vandalized amid racism claims

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This article was published 10/06/2020 (1613 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg restaurant was vandalized this week after comments from the owners that many are condemning as racist were shared widely on social media.

Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant is owned by Dave Jones and Paulina Jojnowicz, who took over the establishment last year.

The owners closed the restaurant on Tuesday after they found graffiti on the exterior of the Corydon Avenue business. In a photo shared online, the words “F— racism” and “BLM,” which stands for Black Lives Matter, as well as an image of a hammer and sickle, were scrawled in red spray paint on the restaurant’s windows. Police confirmed that a report was filed by the owners on Tuesday and that an investigation is underway.

The incident appears related to a screengrab shared to Reddit on Monday of a post made on Jones’ personal Facebook account.

“So now white people are going around and bowing down to and kissing the feet of black people to prove their (sic) not racist? You know what this really proves right?? You’re an easily manipulated dumbsh–!” read the post, which Jones later said was a comment made in response to a video he’d watched online.

In response to online backlash, the owners made a post on the restaurant’s Facebook business page defending the statement and referring to commenters as trolls. The post has since been deleted.

During a phone conversation with the Free Press, Jojnowicz said the post was taken out of context and was not intended to be racist.

“There was no racism in the post,” she said. “I think they are taking it as a literal meaning when it’s not meant that way.”

“Anyone who is writing something on social media has to keep in mind that what we’re saying is being presented to the public, it’s not private communication, it’s public communication.” –Matthew Flisfeder

Matthew Flisfeder, an associate professor at the University of Winnipeg and social media researcher, says the argument that a viral post has been taken out of context doesn’t hold much water.

“If you are commenting about an issue publicly you have to be very self-reflective about what you’re saying and how it’s going to be perceived by the public,” he said. “We have to speak in context and context always matters.”

Flisfeder also adds that everything shared on social media, whether intended for personal followers or a wide audience, is public domain.

“Anyone, individuals, business owners, politicians, anyone who is writing something on social media has to keep in mind that what we’re saying is being presented to the public, it’s not private communication, it’s public communication.”

Jones has deleted his personal Facebook account, but not before more offensive posts surfaced on social media — including one that called for looters during Black Lives Matter rallies to be shot.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jones posted a lengthy statement to the Tuxedo Village Family Restaurant Facebook page defending his earlier posts and sharing his views that the coronavirus numbers have been manipulated by governments and the mainstream media.

Within hours, the post had garnered nearly 200 comments.

“You need to learn how to how to take a step back and learn why what you said was racist,” wrote a user by the name of Calvin Mayer.

Robyn Maharaj wrote: “Stating what you have — I wouldn’t feel safe eating anything prepared in your kitchen given your lack of concern for your patrons and employees and the spread of a highly spreadable virus. Not the kind of local business owner I wish to support.”

The restaurant appears to have reopened since the vandalism incident. The owners have not responded to further requests for comment from the Free Press.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca