Crime Bedford-Stuyvesant

Exclusive: Bed-Stuy meat market under fire after racist slur

January 11, 2019 By Christina Carrega Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The Sagal Meat Market at 1274 Broadway, Bed-Stuy, where a purported racial incident took place. Photo via Google Maps
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A Bedford-Stuyvesant couple are calling for the shutdown of their local butcher shop after an employee called one of them a “mono” — Spanish for monkey — to his face.

“You cannot go around and disrespect the community like this. Without the community, his business would not exist,” said Venessa Kane, whose husband Demba Kane was addressed by a butcher inside Sagal Meat Market on Jan. 2 with a racial slur.

Demba Kane, 50, is a regular customer of the meat market on Broadway in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the manager and other employees are aware he is fluent in Spanish. On that particular day, the usual workers were not present. When Demba Kane went to pick up his order, the employee said “aquí mono” — “here, monkey” in Spanish.

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“My husband asked ‘Why are you calling me a monkey? Why are you treating me like that?’” said Venessa Kane, 52 a retired preschool teacher.

Demba Kane refused to leave the business until he could speak to the manager.

The employees refused to take his contact information and demanded that the couple leave. Venessa Kane said her husband called 911, but since no physical altercation occurred, the officers advised them to file a complaint with 311 and the Better Business Bureau.

A spokesperson from the NYPD did not have a record of a 911 call to the business, but Venessa Kane wrote down the badge number of the officer from the 81st Precinct who assisted them.  

“My husband hasn’t been able to sleep at night, he’s very upset. This has never happened to him before … We want to do something about this,” Venessa Kane told the Eagle.

The Kanes went back to the shop the following day with hopes and carrying a cellphone to speak to the manager or leave their contact information for the owner.

The workers seen on the five-minute video posted on the couple’s Facebook business page grinned when Demba Kane expressed his concerns and denied knowing a phone number for a higher-up.

Since the video was broadcasted to the couple’s social media, some of their neighbors have expressed their concerns and bad experiences about the meat market in the comment section.

“This is consistent behavior. This time it wasn’t a curse-out battle, normally there is a back and forth. This didn’t start from an argument or any disagreement, he just handed my husband the meat and said ‘here, monkey.’ It makes no sense,” said Venessa Kane.

Also in the comment section was Sagal Fernandez, who identified himself as the owner of the business that has 19 locations in Brooklyn and the Bronx. However, the state Division of Corporations lists Lenin Sanchez as the CEO and principal executive officer of Sagal Meat Market Inc.

“We have ZERO tolerance for this type of behavior. There are no words to express our deepest apologies and we regret not being able to handle the situation immediately. We don’t completely understand why the manager on site or any of the employees refused to give Mr. and Mrs. Kane the owners’ contact information,” wrote Fernandez on Jan. 9. “Regrettably, the manager on site and employees did not communicate to us the owners what had happened. Having said that, we do take responsibility for not becoming more involved with our customers and staying aware of what is happening in the day to day interactions in our store.”

As of Friday, the lengthy post was deleted, and the Kanes have reached out to the National Action Network (NAN) for help.

“We don’t want any apology. We want cultural diversity training to all your employees. We will be out here every day until you give us respect,” said Rev. Kevin McCall, the national crisis director for NAN.

Rev. McCall is expected to lead daily protest at 3 p.m. in front of the 1274 Broadway market until the actual owner agrees to meet with the family.


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5 Comments

  1. brooklynn1

    Ridiculous to call for shut down and these daily protests can be a form of harrassment not to mention escalation. Maybe behind all this someone wants the property to build a high rise. That said, diversity training a good idea for store staff. So is mediation.

    January 11, 2019 at 9:55 pm
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  2. Ryan Becker

    It sounds like the Kanes overreacted. I mean, calling 911 because someone verbally insulted you? Seriously? It wasn’t even a verbal assault or harassment. It was one word. One time from one employee. And as others have pointed out, it could’ve been just a familiar form of “brother” — similar to saying, “bro.” It just makes no sense that a worker would insult a customer for no reason. It sounds like a misunderstanding that caused an overreaction from the Kanes. Seriously, please don’t clog up public resources like 911 because you felt disrespected.

    January 13, 2019 at 2:28 am
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  3. kenneth hollins

    This type of thing go’s on all the time not only at this location but other stores as well we as black people get treated like that gentlemen did all the time you just have to keep it moving and don’t take it personally we as a race are at the bottom of the pole

    January 14, 2019 at 1:35 am
    Reply