A Black woman from Maryland is facing backlash after walking into an Asian-owned nail salon and urging Black customers to stop supporting the business. The woman recorded the confrontation and shared it online, where viewers quickly split over whether her actions were justified activism or outright racism.
TikTok user @foxicleopatra posted a video of herself entering Maryland’s Diamond Nails to confront Black customers she felt were ignoring ongoing boycott efforts. The video comes as some activists and social media users continue encouraging Black consumers to redirect their spending away from Asian-owned businesses following the Rick Chow verdict in the death of Cyrus Carmack-Belton.
Foxi proceeded to deliver her message to customers inside the salon. “Y’all still supporting Asian businesses? We boycotted all Asian, Vietnamese and Korean businesses. Come on, black women!” she said. She continued, “Y’all can’t do press ons, y’all can’t scrub y’all feet in the tub. Y’all still in here getting your services?…They don’t respect us.”
The speech did not go uninterrupted for long. At one point, someone approached Foxi off camera. While their comments could not be heard in the video, Foxi’s response made it clear she was not interested in debating her position. “Shut up! Because your people killed my people. And we boycott all your businesses,” she replied.
Before leaving the salon, Foxi also addressed a customer she noticed finding amusement at the interaction. “You laughing. It could have been your son,” she told them. The video later cuts to a clip of Tupac discussing the challenges facing young Black men in America.
The Comment Section Weighs In
Many commenters applauded both Foxi’s message and her willingness to confront customers directly. “Thank you for being brave enough to do this,” one user wrote. Another added, “Sister, keep up the good work. I wish I could go with you.” One commenter even suggested they planned to take similar action, writing, “I’m doing the same thing this weekend. I’ll be passing out flyers.”
Others strongly disagreed with Foxi’s approach. “This is absolutely terrible, speaking from an Asian myself why are you blaming the whole Asian community for one citizens actions and blaming it all on us,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “This makes me so sick. Why would you do this?? This is outright racism. Not every Asian supported what happened or thinks the same way.”
Some commenters also expressed concern about the real-world consequences of the rhetoric. “My mom’s nail salon got vandalized yesterday. We can’t fight racism with more racism,” one person shared.
The majority of the more than 1,000 comments appeared to support Foxi’s message, with many thanking her for speaking out and encouraging others to take similar action. Others, however, viewed the confrontation as unfairly targeting an entire community for the actions of an individual.
