In a new Mexican restaurant in Amarillo named Big Beaners, the word “beaner” is a racial slur with a long and ugly history, critics claimed.
Soon after Jesse Quackenbush opened his business, he met opposition from some segments of the public who claimed the Big Beaners name was offensive.
With this, Quackenbush was forced to respond after officials with the Amarillo branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), expressed their concerns regarding the naming of his new restaurant.
Officials from both organizations said the name of his restaurant, Big Beaners, was racist and offensive.
He defended the name against the racial accusations online. The Big Beaners logo shows an illustration of a dark bean with a sombrero, a black handlebar mustache, boots, and the colors red and green.
Quackenbush said the name originated with the Latin American beans they sell at the store.
“We knew that we were going to sell specialty bean dishes from Latin America so we wanted something that would connect our main product which is breakfast burritos and specialty bean dishes with coffee,” said Quackenbush.
Quackenbush explained many people think there is nothing wrong with the name.
More details of this story from AmericaNow:
When asked by ABC7 News why he didn’t use the big bean, big frijoles, or something else in the same line, Quackenbush stated: “Because we wanted to use big beaners, we liked the name—kind of like Big Texan, the word big, we wanted to have Hispanic culture or Latin culture enveloped into our mascot and logo.”
He added that the majority of Hispanics were not offended by the name or sign.
“A lot of the people that are responding saying ‘I’m alright with that’—they probably haven’t experienced the racism part,” Bosquez stated.
When asked whether he would apologize for the sign, Quackenbush responded: “The answer to that is no. I apologize for nothing related to this business, I think this is a big hoax and a scam that’s been set up by a couple former restaurants here that recently have gone out of business and they just got so outraged because a white guy is opening a Mexican restaurant—that’s what’s going on here.”
However, Bosquez refuted this and stated that even if the owner was of Mexican descent, the meaning would remain the same.
“Racism is racism regardless of who does it. I can be a racist against my own people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce released the following statement to the public:
“The Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has never contacted Mr. Jesse Quackenbush regarding the “Big Beaners” name he chose for his new restaurant. The comments on his social media post regarding the Hispanic chamber are not factual. We have received many complaints and questions regarding the name of the restaurant. We hear the concerns and we understand. The AHCC is a business organization and not a civil rights organization.”
Watch the video report below for more details:
Sources: AmericaNow, ABC 7 News
