‘Is she your slave?’: Hamilton florist accused of racially defaming a Maori customer

A Maori man was left angry and “overwhelmed with emotion” after a Hamilton florist allegedly questioned whether he was a slave to an older customer.

Tama Dean says The Plant Planet owner Bruce Sanson casually asked a woman in her 70s, whom Dean had left in front of him in line at the counter, “Is that your slave?”

When asked about it, Dean said Sanson claimed the 53-year-old Hamilton resident was just mad “because Black Live Matter is all the rage right now.”

The incident allegedly occurred at The Plant Planet at 11am yesterday morning.

“Just as I was approaching the counter, there was an old lady coming over from the side, so I said ‘go ahead of me’ and she did,” Dean told the Herald.

“Anyway, she was being cared for and the owner came in and saw her and saw me and basically said ‘is that your slave?’ And I was like what the hell?

Dean said he left directly from the florist to meet in the parking lot, but came back to confront Sanson.

“So I went out, I had a little respite. What happened to me was that in the car I didn’t realize how annoying it made me. I got really mad. I’m 53 years old and the last time I heard comments like I was probably in the Raglan University. It just surprised me a bit. “

“I left immediately because I was actually going to leave and I thought no, I was going to say something to him and he was still next to my cart.

“I said ‘did you just call me a slave?’ He said it was just a joke. And I said, ‘I don’t know anyone who finds this funny.’

Dean said he tried to get support from the other customers who said they didn’t want to get involved, but a woman who worked at the florist as an assistant came to Dean’s aid.

“She worked for him, so she was a little careful how she said things. But she said ‘we have to be careful what we say and think about it more’ when he was there. And he says’ I’m not go back I think was his phrase. “

The Herald submitted a request for comment on Sanson’s cell phone last night and this morning, but has received no response.

However, Sanson told Stuff that he did not call Dean a slave and that he was wrong.

“I didn’t call him a slave and it was just a joke with someone else,” Sanson said.

“I told him I wasn’t going to back down, it was just a joke. It wasn’t directed at him. He thought he heard something, but that wasn’t true.”

Dean told the Herald that Sanson refused to apologize for the comments when he was questioned again about them.

“That’s what got me because I’m from Invercargill and my grandparents are Scottish and sometimes people from that generation say things that are a little bit left of center. But 99 percent of them if you said ‘actually that’s pretty rude ‘would be very apologetic.

“But he was so ‘I don’t give a damn. If you can’t take a joke like that, that’s your problem’ and that was it.

“What really got me was that he was unapologetic, and he’s also clearly aware of Black Lives Matter, but he thinks that’s bullshit because he said it’s just a trend.”

Dean said he eventually left because the situation was “going nowhere” but would still like an apology from Sanson.

Dean posted an account of the incident on his Facebook that had more than 1,400 shares and more than 1,000 comments of support and outrage.

However, Dean said that Facebook had later removed the post because it violated its community standards.

“Wow, Facebook said my post was against their community standards. What does that say about their standards? Can you tell us what was offensive in that post to a good community? Dean said.