SAN ANTONIO — The sign outside Chester's Hamburgers got more attention than normal on Tuesday after some took offense to its message.
The marquee read, "DONT BUY CHINESE BUY AMERICAN." The sign was changed by Wednesday afternoon, but not before it caught the attention of the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio, which posted a photo of the sign to its Facebook page Tuesday, along with the caption, "Really, Chester's Hamburgers?? Seen at the 410 and Broadway location."
The Facebook post drew comments from several people, including Rachel Clark. Clark said while she didn't think the motivation behind the sign was malicious, the wording didn't appear right.
“If they just changed the wording, I think it would make a big difference. Especially to the Asian American community,” Clark told KENS 5.
She said she supports American business, and would have had no issue with the sign had it simply said, "Buy American."
“It’s singling out one ethnicity," Clark said. "You could assume that it meant a product, you could assume a food, but that’s not what it said. I’m a firm believer in say what you mean and mean what you say.”
Eyewitness Wants to Know reached out to Chester's Hamburgers for clarification on what it meant by its sign. A representative for the business sent the following text message:
“Regarding the marquee at Chesters Hamburgers, there is no implied meaning other than to buy American products and not products from communist China.”
KENS 5 reached out again after the business changed its sign, but did not hear back.
Grayson Loar also commented on the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio's post, stating he would order from Chester's Hamburgers more often. He said he wasn't offended by the marquee and said those who were offended were "reading too much into it."
He theorized no one would be offended if the marquee was posted at a hardware store, adding that he felt the intention was simply to encourage people to buy American products.
“I don’t think he was singling out anybody," Loar said of the owner of Chester's Hamburgers. "I don’t think he was trying to be prejudicial. I don’t believe that at all."
Kin Hui, the president of the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio, said he considered the matter resolved because the sign had been changed. The alliance has since deleted its Facebook post.