Lumberton Honda Fires Employee After Calling Customer Trinity Bethune, “Bon Quisha”

A North Carolina car dealership did the unthinkable after a Black female customer purchased a vehicle on Thursday. 

A Facebook post shared by Tyrone Jacob, the woman’s brother, detailed the egregious act. A Lumberton Honda dealership employee was terminated after he sold a 2016 Toyota Camry to Trinity Bethune and posted a racist, stereotypical post referring to the woman as “Bon Quisha.”

“This is not how I planned to congratulate my little sister on her first car purchase. This is completely intentional, disgusting, unfair, and many other adjectives I could use to describe this situation. Rather than responding like a “Bon Quisha,” I’m responding like a Karen. This was not a mistake. With the exception of the letter “N,” her name is spelled using the first row of the keyboard.”

“Typing Bon Quisha requires effort and intent. I’m outraged that she was publicly humiliated without a public/private apology. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple of my colleagues in the legal space, but please tell me if this is something my family should explore. She’s not well at the moment. If you know her, please send love her way,” Jacob added.

The message with a photo of Bethune, posted by the dealership, has since been deleted. 

A screenshot read, “Congratulations to Bon Quisha on her 2016 Toyota Camry.”

Bethune reacted to the problematic post, saying, “I’m not sure if this is a “joke” or something, but my name is definitely Trinity Bethune,” she wrote. “I’m very offended by this post. It’s almost a racial slur. If I’m not addressed by MY name, then please don’t address me at all.”

The Fayetteville Observer reported that a person from the Lumberton Honda dealership said the employee reached out and apologized to Bethune. But the action may have been too little too late. 

 According to ABC 11, the employee was fired. 

A statement from Lumberton Honda said, “The action of this former employee does not represent the views or culture of our company.”