Regina donut shop queues after racist graffiti and vandalism

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It doesn’t take long for the shelves of Country Corner Donuts to empty these days.

The best donuts in town. pic.twitter.com/LIwvP6c6k4

– Paul Dechene (@PaulDechene) December 4, 2021

Boston creams, Bavarian chocolates, nut crisps and 36 varieties of donuts from Regina’s famous café barely come out of the oven in the morning before they’re wrapped and out the door.

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While owner Vuong Pham says it will sell for an average of a day, he adds that the influx of support in recent days is unprecedented and started after his store windows were the target of racist graffiti and vandalism.

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Pham says the first in a recent string of incidents happened a few months ago when one of the store’s south-facing windows was hit by a BB rifle.

He says about three weeks ago a large rock was thrown through another window facing Broad Street.

Then, last Monday, he showed up for work in the morning to see three windows covered in racist graffiti, the hate messages saying “f-you China”, “go back to China” and “eat rice”.

Pham says that although the racism was overwhelming, support from the local community was even stronger in the response.

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A 25-year-old customer called the graffiti “disgusting”.

“He’s been hit several times over the years. This is unacceptable, ”said Don Pixon, who called Pham a“ good guy in the community who supports the locals as much as he can ”.

Another, a Western CML Cleaners employee and Country Corner regular, cleaned graffiti from the windows for free after seeing him last Monday.

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Pham opened Country Corner Donuts in 1989, 10 years after moving from Vietnam to Saskatchewan.

When he arrived, he went out of his way to make ends meet for himself and his family, including doing the dishes, working as a janitor, cook, welder and more.

The Pham family also operates a convenience store in Regina, but the donut shop, open seven days a week, is now Vuong’s main focus.

He says he won’t let recent incidents break that stride, but adds that racist messages are more of a concern than other acts of vandalism.

“I’m an easy guy. These people come and go. You can’t overreact, ”he told Global News, saying he was now in contact with the police.

“But this time I think they have to do something because they are tied in the race.”

He said he did not have outward-facing cameras, which made the investigation more difficult.

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In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Regina Police Department said they had received reports of four separate incidents at the company, as of August.

They say the reports arrived on August 10, the night of September 30 to October 1, the night of November 14 to 15, and the night of November 28 to 29, and the incidents involved “a stone through a window; holes in a window from a BB gun, a large piece of concrete through a window; and the latter is graffiti with anti-Asian insults ”.

The spokesperson said there were currently no suspects, but encouraged anyone who witnessed or had information about any of the incidents to contact the police or Crimestoppers.

5:40 Fighting Anti-Asian Racism Through Film and Media Combating Anti-Asian Racism Through Film and Media – November 4, 2021

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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