Black Texas Business Owner Touched By 'Black Lives Matter' Flag At White Client's Home: 'I Was Like Do I Have The Right House?'
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - When Frank Garner, owner of Frank's Tanks & Maintenance, arrived at a Fort Worth home this week to install a fish tank, he was met with a "Black Lives Matter" flag by the front door.
"It was very emotional," Garner said. "I'll say that it was very emotional. At first, I was like 'do I have the right house'?"
He explained that his client, Jerry Balkenbush, is white.
"You would think that somebody who is not of color would have a hard time placing something like that in front of their place in support of such a thing, so that was a touching thing," Garner said.
Balkenbush met him at the door.
"I just kind of smiled at him and I said, 'man you're really, really awesome'," Garner said.
"I put that flag out there to show that they are not alone in their desire for justice and for peace, but I did not know it would have the impact that it had on Frank. He was in tears at times," Balkenbush said.
The two took some time to talk about what's happening across the nation and took a picture together. They shared it with their families.
"It was very, very, very touching," Garner said. "With 9/11, it was 'we're all in this together' and we never heard it again until the COVID situation. You never ever hear it when there's nothing going on. So I want to say to the rest of the world that we're all in this together. We have to build each other up."
Across social media, there's now a growing movement to support black-owned businesses.
Some people are asking how they can do this and others identifying those businesses in their community and sharing the info with others.