The Ricker's Fail & Apology

I’m a bit disturbed by a recent situation and how I’m seeing people respond to it. The reason for this post is to caution my brothers and sisters on how they use social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to communicate their frustrations on issues of social justice.

In Fort Wayne, IN, we have a business owner named Jay Ricker. He owns a series of gas stations, convenience stores and I’m sure a lot of other small businesses that I’m unaware of. I don’t know him nor the details of his company, but he’s fallen on some controversy this week.

At one of his businesses, a laundromat on the South-side of Fort Wayne, this sign was posted by one of his employees who works at this location after an obvious incident.

This area of town has seen a large influx of refugees from the war torn country formally called Burma. Imagine living in 3rd world conditions and then imagine worse than that because most of these refugees have lived in a refugee camp for approximately 10 years or more. You can imagine the living conditions many of these folks are accustomed to and the drastic contrast America presents. The point of the illustration is to highlight the huge learning curve that the Burmese population has to learn across a language barrier in most cases and how we have to be even more gracious to them as they are now our neighbors whom we’re called to love like ourselves.

You can image a sign like this can cause a lot of controversy due to it’s apparent civil rights breach we hold onto tightly in the US. I agree that a sign like this should never have been put up, especially in a public business. I agree that appropriate action must have been taken, which it has.

Below you can watch a very public video apology from Mr Ricker himself.

(click the image to be directed to video)

I’m concerned that we’ve picked up the same rocks that we felt have been thrown at us and thrown them right back. The voices, tones and the manner in which we immediately have cast our judgment on a people group is alarming.

Please consider that the use of these outlets can broadcast your thoughts and opinions to thousands of people within you social sphere in an instant. Our “online voice" is not receiving the same filter as our in person voices and is becoming a problem.

Regardless of your thoughts and feelings, please consider another way. It pains me to hear my Christian brothers and sisters speak so frankly and maliciously yet show very little actions of love and kindness.

As I read through the dialogue and conversations inside the Facebook group that was created to boycott Ricker’s businesses, I’m grateful for the few that try to turn the tone towards actual justice in calling people to better way of dealing with this situation.

I fully respect the apology given by Mr Ricker and believe he’s making the correct strides to make sure this doesn’t happen again and to educate his employees as well as I’m sure, himself. I feel bad that folks didn’t give him a fair chance to before we shamed him in public.