Last Updated on June 23, 2025
A black customer exited Synergy Auto Care in Wilson, North Carolina, after employees and a patron expressed annoyance about Juneteenth’s status as a federal holiday.
The shop’s video of the exchange, posted to defend their stance. The incident underscores tensions over free expression when it comes to skepticism of federal holidays
Initially, a white customer at Synergy Auto Care asked why banks closed on June 19. An employee replied, “Juneteenth, a new holiday they added a few years ago.” The customer responded, “Okie dokie,” with a sarcastic tone.
Another employee chimed in, “I know, right?” echoing the sentiment with a lighthearted nod to the holiday’s recent establishment. This brief exchange, perceived as skeptical by some, set the stage for the ensuing conflict.
Consequently, a Black customer, the only Black person present, demanded her truck and left, refusing service.
“Give me my fucking truck. Pull my truck around. Please move my truck around. I’m getting my keys for my truck. I don’t want this. Please go get my truck. Thank you.”
Moreover, Synergy Auto Care’s owner, Josh Dougherty, posted the video on Facebook to counter the customer’s racism allegations. The customer claimed employees mocked her and Juneteenth. Dougherty maintained the remarks were not malicious, emphasizing the shop’s commitment to all customers. He shared the full context to ensure transparency, highlighting the absence of harmful intent.
So today’s WOW moment. We have multiple customers in our waiting room … and we were checking our till to see if we needed any extra change because the banks will be closed for the Juneteenth holiday tomorrow. A customer overheard us say the banks were closed and asked us why they were closed. Our Manager responded with it’s Juneteenth a federal holiday they added a few years ago. The customer said “okie dokie” and our greeter said I know right, just a general generic response. No faster than she finished speaking did another customer stand up and said “Gimme my fn truck, pull my fn truck around, gimme my keys, I don’t want nothing done here”. … She told me she was going live with this and that we were racist. … I told her if that was the case I was going to go ahead and post the ccv footage so we are not unfairly judged off one side of an event. I generally don’t entertain these kinds of things, but when you bend over backwards for all your customers no matter who they are, it stings to be accused of hateful things. [Source: Synergy Auto Care Facebook Post]
Furthermore, Dougherty’s response underscored the shop’s right to clarify the interaction. Expressing skepticism of federal holidays, such as Juneteenth, does not constitute racism, and American citizens have the constitutional right to voice such views. Customers, in turn, may choose other businesses if they disagree with a company’s stance.
