Business Owner’s New Studio Vandalized With ‘Ch*nk’ Two Weeks After Opening in Pasadena

April 19, 2021

An Asian business owner has revealed that her studio in Pasadena, Calif., was allegedly vandalized within two weeks of its opening.

Scratched onto the windows of Jellylab was the word “Ch*nk,” owner Connie explained in a recent Instagram post. While getting bubble tea with her two friends on Wednesday, one of them pointed out the vandalism, Connie told NextShark.

“I saw C H and immediately thought ‘no way’… as i already assumed it was ‘ch*nk,'” she said.

“Initially, I didn’t want to share it or tell anyone. I didn’t want to worry anyone, didn’t want negative attention on me, and didn’t want to make it a big deal,” she said. “I wanted to share it because I wanted to raise awareness that it can happen to anyone and to be careful. Everyone was so shocked that it happened to me and also that was in Pasadena.”

In her Instagram post, Connie also wrote, “I felt that my hurt wasn’t as important as the other issues circulating, but based on what’s been happening to the AAPI community, I decided to shed some light.”

Experiencing racism and receiving derogatory comments is nothing new for Connie. Having grown up in the U.S., she said she knows what it’s like to be targeted with the slant-eye gesture among other forms of racism that are generally considered “harmless.”

“IT WASN’T [harmless] and it never will be,” she said.

She has encouraged followers to support AAPI friends and businesses and focus on “unity, not division.”

Connie also pointed out that this is one of “countless posts regarding racism” that she sees on her Instagram feed, as anti-Asian bias and violence have been on the rise.

Connie says this incident serves as a reminder to “be better to others,” which she hopes will in turn “inspire people to be kinder to one another.” She is now planning to hire a security guard like the ones on https://communitysecurity.com/commercial-security/ for her studio.

“At the end of the day, we all bleed the same and just trying to live. It would be much easier and happier if we collectively did it together.”

Featured Image via @browjelly

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