Intolerance in public places
Black people can’t find their peace even when they go
to eat out.
Practically every day African Americans face insults
and humiliation from intolerant people. This type of people can be met
everywhere, in cafes, restaurants, shops etc. and it’s quite difficult for them to resist and not start
scattering accusations and insults towards blacks.
Here are some loud scandals associated with rudeness
and intolerance in public places:
In the end of November, a black woman called Lennys Molina
visited a place called Wildflower Bread Co. restaurant. Looking for a free
place to sit she saw a white person reading a newspaper. Lennys asked a customer whether she could sit at the
table next to her. The woman responded: "Do I have a choice?"
Shocked woman started recording
the encounter:
“I hate to say the
political climate is to blame for someone’s outrageous behavior, but I was
visibly shaken today with this exchange. I simply asked the woman if I could
sit down next to her while I waited for the car to charge.
I noticed she was attentively reading her papers and wanted
to be respectful and not interrupt. I asked, “ Would you mind if I sit next to
you?” Seems pretty simple. That is when things got crazy!!
Her reply, “Do I have a choice?”
I was so shocked, I asked her
to repeat it so I could see her face. Something In me said I should
record it, too. Thank God I did! What you see next left me speechless...
“You will be wiped out...trust
me.” That was a threat!
Fast forward...she was asked to leave the restaurant. The
manager of the store that kicked her out also walked me to my car for safety.
I know that the scars of racism run deep in this great
country I love. Being Puerto Rican, I am a proud American 🇺🇸...and
equally proud Puerto Rican 🇵🇷. This lady
was lucky my PR-ness didn’t come out!!
I wish for a world for my
children and my children’s children’s to never worry about this stuff...but
then again, we are who we are.”
"We were made aware that a guest made some inflammatory
remarks to another guest on the basis of race in one of our restaurants,"
the restaurant company said in a statement following the encounter.
"Wildflower does not condone racism or discrimination of any kind."
A company spokesman said the woman who berated Bermudez left
on her own. The company also confirmed that the
restaurant's manager escorted Bermudez to her car after the incident.
"This particular incident was highly sensitive and
highly charged," Louis Basile, Wildflower's founder, said in the
statement. "But we’re always
concerned about our guests' experience."
The other huge scandal
happened in the April of 2018 when Starbucks called police for two black people
for refusing to leave when denied access to the restroom.
And now Starbucks will close all its company-owned stores in
the U.S. on May 29 to give racial-bias training to employees after a video
of two African-American men being arrested while waiting for a friend sparked
demonstrations and calls for a company boycott. Comments are edited for clarity
and grammar:
This could have been avoided if these two men had bought
something or just left when asked to because they weren’t patrons. How
difficult is this?
— Jeffrey Fuda
They were asked to leave as they weren’t buying anything.
They refused. The police asked them to leave. They refused. They were removed.
I have no sympathy.
— Magoo (@dechoposto) April
17, 2018
Considering how poor the taste of Starbucks’ coffee is, I
don’t blame the gentlemen for not wanting to buy some. But if the store was
crowded, they should have made a purchase or waited outside. That is only being
polite.
— Glenn Woodruff
Unconscious bias? What’s unconscious about saying that whites
can stay but blacks must leave? That looks like pretty bold-faced conscious
bias to me.
— Robert T. Bradford
I’d like to break this down. The employee who called the
police clearly made a mistake, and the company needs to review its policies. I
think the protesters have done a very good job of raising awareness. But do I
think that the employee deserve to be fired or quit because of his own implicit
bias? That I can’t say.
I am in no way condoning the actions of this employee. I find
it absolutely reprehensible. I would have been one of the people in the coffee
shop speaking out and not putting up with this type of behavior, as some were.
Some of the onus falls on the police department, as well. What were these
people arrested for? No white person would be arrested or detained for this.
— Summer Lively