OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha beauty salon sparks outrage after a Facebook post dealing with the Asian community and the Coronavirus was posted.
Lash Goddess on 115th and Blondo is a local spa that offers lash and spa services. But now the business is under scrutiny. A few days ago owner Mia Will shared a Facebook post showing a white woman giving a client a pedicure. The post says in part, "Worried about Coronavirus?....let us do your pedicures! According to the state of Nebraska inspector, our spa is VERY clean!"
Julia Gehringer's parents are from China, when she saw the post, she couldn't believe it. She takes it as an insult towards the Chinese and Asian communities.
"It's not okay to think about a whole group of people in that way," she said.
The post and entire Facebook page have since been deleted.
Owner Mia Will provided KMTV with a statement that says,
"Due to recent local and national media coverage about the virus, some of our clients have asked us questions about best practices in spa sanitation. Our approach in respondin g to those questions has been to share information about our own stringent sanitation practices, and how to identify good sanitation practices in salons and spas in general."
Will also apologized on Instagram with a post that says in part, "I sincerely apologize to our Asian sisters and any other race who took my post as offensive."
But for Gehringer, that's not enough.
"[It's] the kind of apology that says 'I'm sorry if you were offended', which is a non-apology. It's another thing to say I'm sorry you were offended versus I'm sorry I was offensive," she said.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Joseph Stankus says anxiety in people plays a role in fear factor when it comes to something like the Coronavirus. But not everyone is that way.
"Actually I think it's a small minority the number of people that tend to overreact," Dr. Stankus said.
It's important to note the Coronavirus is being carefully monitored here in the U.S. and there are no confirmed cases in Nebraska at this time.
