According to a News One report, two Black women who allegedly attacked the Asian owner of a Houston area beauty supply store say they were racially profiled.
Daquiesha Williams and Keaundra Young were charged with assault and aggravated assault, respectively, after an incident that occurred the day after a gunman killed six Asian women in Atlanta. The women and three others were asked to leave by owner Jung Kim, who is Korean, after they knocked over several wig displays, reported Click 2 Houston.
Kim claims Williams and Young began hurling racial slurs and calling her “little Asian girl” before commencing an attack– part of which has been released on social media through the Houston Chronicle’s social media platforms.
An assault on the Korean owners of a beauty supply shop in Houston is being investigated as a possible hate crime, police said. The attackers used racial language during the assault, one victim told The Chronicle. https://t.co/nTxfgLcVjc pic.twitter.com/1TFTCDiCDn
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) March 24, 2021
The two women eventually left the store, but the incident continued in the parking lot where Kim’s son and husband claimed Williams and Young attempted to ram them with their car.
For their part, Williams and Young say the media has not correctly portrayed the incident. They told Click 2 Houston that they were racially “profiled” from the time they entered the store and that the video circulated has been manipulated to make them look like the aggressors.
“I felt like we were getting profiled because it was a group of black women, young women at that point,” said Williams. She claimed she never called Kim “anything” and never touched her, either.
She added, “They showed you certain clips of the video to make it seem like it was these angry black women just randomly attacking people, and that’s not the case.
Williams also said that the parking lot incident has been misrepresented as well and that Kim’s son and husband blocked her car to prevent her from leaving.
“If somebody’s jumping in front of your car with a weapon and you’re trying to back up… I had somebody in the front of me and the back of me. I have no choice but to go forward,” she said.
As a result of the incident, Kim reportedly suffered bruises and a broken nose that will need to be repaired with surgery.
The relationship between Korean beauty supply owners and Black women has been tumultuous throughout the years. The New York Times reported last year that sentiment among Black women was that beauty supply stores discriminated against Black patrons by following them as they shopped or making them check outside bags upon entering the store.
