June 22, 2025
The business tried to gain support for their side of the issue on social media, but instead faced backlash.
A North Carolina auto care shop faces backlash after a Black customer slammed them for disrespecting Juneteenth.
Patrons and employees at Synergy Auto Care in Wilson, North Carolina engaged in a conversation surrounding Juneteenth that raised the eyebrows of a Black customer. In a video posted by the business, it documented how the discussion broke down, leading to the women’s interference and refusal of service.
It began with a white customer asking about why the banks closed on the federal holiday, established into law in 2021.
“Juneteenth, a new holiday they added a few years ago,” answered an employee.
The employee’s response triggered a joking reaction from the customer, who sarcastically said “Okie dokie.”
Another employee chimed in, stating “I know right,” suggesting that Juneteenth was not that important of a holiday.
The discussion prompted a Black customer in the room to speak out. Visibly upset, the customer asked the employee to return her truck, while opting to take her business elsewhere.
“Give me my f–king truck,” she yelled. “Pull my truck around, please. Pull my truck around and give me my truck… I don’t want nothing done from here! Please go get my truck, thank you.”
Following the women leaving, the first employee then tried explaining the reason for Juneteenth. He shared it was for “reparations or something,” not knowing the true history behind the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
However, after the woman called them out, the auto care shop responded in an unexpected way. Instead of taking accountability for the offense, they chastised the customer for the “WOW moment.”
“She told me she was going live with this and that we were racist,” explained the business owner. “She told me that we all laughed at her and were chuckling and mocking the holiday and that I didn’t know how that made her feel because she was Black.”
The owner pushed back on her accusations, stating they would release their own footage to not be “unfairly judged off one side of an event.”
“I generally don’t entertain these kinds of things, but when you bend over backwards for all your customers it stings to be accused of hateful things,” the statement added.
However, the owner’s insistence to release the video had an opposite effect. Social media users proceeded to criticize the owners for not recognizing why the customer took offense.
“Most were negative towards the store employees,” shared a TikToker, according to Atlanta Black Star. “She was the only Black customer in there and they wanted to antagonize her. I’m glad sista stood on business! These cowards have become emboldened!”
Synergy Auto Care took the video down shortly after, but the effects remain as the store continues to garner backlash.
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