Tag: racism
Olive Garden in Indiana allegedly complies with “screaming” customer who demanded non-black server
The customer allegedly said the waiter was “not family-friendly” and “should go work at a strip club”
Olive Garden says that it is investigating an alleged incident at one of its restaurants in which an unhinged customer demanded to be assigned a non-black server.
Olive Garden hostess Amira Donahue tells local news station WEHT that she personally witnessed a customer who was “screaming” at her manager about not wanting to be served by black employees, and that the manager eventually complied with her request.
“She asked for a server that wasn’t black and the manager complied and I do agree that was a bad decision,” Donahue said. “The lady also made comments about me to another coworker saying that I am not family-friendly and that I should go work at a strip club instead of an Olive Garden… [She asked me of] am I even black, am I from here, am I from America, just like offhand comments like that and referring me to the ‘other one.'”
Olive Garden spokesman Hunter Robinson says that the company does not tolerate racism in its restaurants and says that the company is still investigating the incident. The company also confirmed that the manager who agreed to assign the customer a non-black server no longer works there.
Article via Salon
Florida police aide probed for saying black sergeant looked ‘like a monkey’
A police aide in Florida has been reassigned after allegedly saying a black sergeant looked “like a monkey,” according to a report.
Pablo Espinoza, a public service aide for the Miami-Dade Police Department, has been placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation for purportedly making the racial slur during a state Department of Motor Vehicles hearing in September, the Miami Herald reports.
An attorney for Miami-Dade Schools Police Sgt. Tracy Moore said Espinoza made the comment in reference to his client as she sat in a waiting area during a hearing to determine whether she would keep her driver’s license after being arrested for drunk driving in July.
“Your client looks like a monkey sitting there,” Espinoza said, attorney Michael Catalano recalled, adding that he was stunned by the unprovoked remark.
“I was shocked,” Catalano told the newspaper. “Nobody talks like that in 2019.”
Catalano later told Moore about the slur, but the officer, who is black, did not confront Espinoza during the administrative hearing, the attorney said.
Instead, Catalano ordered Espinoza to apologize within two hours, saying he would “drop” the entire ordeal if the public service aide admitted to making the comment.
“I was disgusted by that and they have video in the hallway,” Catalano wrote in a text message. “Apologize and we drop it.”
Espinoza, who has been employed by the department since 1987 and makes more than $55,000 a year, replied with an apology and indicated that he considered the matter “done,” but Catalano later circled back to the allegation during an Oct. 7 deposition in the criminal case against Moore, the newspaper reports.
“My client and I are very upset about this,” Catalano wrote in a complaint a day later to Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez. “My client wants PSA Espinoza fired immediately.”
Espinoza, who handles maintenance for Breathalyzer devices, regularly testifies at administrative and criminal hearings, but is not a sworn officer, the Herald reports.
“I can’t talk to you, bro,” Espinoza told the newspaper when reached by cellphone. “You know that.”
Department officials confirmed to The Post on Tuesday that Espinoza had been reassigned pending an internal investigation, adding that he has never been disciplined previously.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department takes all complaints seriously and are committed to the highest performance standards and ethical conduct,” the statement said. “We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and take pride in a professional level of service and fairness to all.”
Photo Credit: Facebook
Doubling down on racist comments, council candidate says she opposes interracial marriage
MARYSVILLE, Mich. – Marysville City Council candidate Jean Cramer said she doesn’t have any plans to back out of the race despite coming under fire for racist comments she made at an election forum Thursday night.
Mayor Dan Damman and other local leaders, however, have called for her withdrawal.
“I would say that I probably came to the conclusion this morning,” he said Friday. “After the initial shock of what she said really sank in and (given) the deep-seated viewpoints that she has, I don’t believe that she is fit to serve as an elected official in Marysville or anywhere else.”
Cramer, one of five residents vying for three council seats in November’s election, responded to a question at a city candidates’ forum about attracting foreign-born residents to the community with: “Keep Marysville a white community as much as possible.”
After the forum, she expanded on her beliefs, particularly that people of different races shouldn’t get married.
Jean Cramer is opposed to interracial marriage
During a follow-up interview outside her Marysville home Friday afternoon, Cramer doubled down on her statements. Asked if she understood why that might upset her neighbors, she said: “If there is the biracial marriage in the family, yes.”
Mississippi: Sheriff texted racist remark, says he was ‘aggravated’ when he sent it
“Because those people don’t know the other side of it,” she said. “For whatever reason, I’ve heard, they love each other, whatever, but there’s also such a thing as remaining single. People don’t necessarily have to get married, and, if they love somebody, love them single. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Cramer, 67, has cited the Bible in backing up her ideology. Despite the widespread condemnation of her views, she said she didn’t believe she was racist.
“As far as I know, as long as we’ve been here, Marysville has been a white community, a white city,” she said. “… If we have seen a black person here and there, whatever, we’re not bothered by it. I’m not bothered by it.”
‘I know in my heart she’s in the minority’
Kevin Watkins, president of the Port Huron chapter of the NAACP, said he also thought it was appropriate for Cramer to withdrawal from Marysville’s City Council race.
But he added it was important that the initial call came from that city’s own leaders.
Watkins said the local minority community was always aware that racism exists in the area — as in other communities. He said he believed individuals like Cramer are more recently emboldened to come forward, “taking a play out of the Trump playbook.”
“The good news is now that we can see you and (hear) how you feel,” he said. “I know in my heart that she’s in the minority.”
Maryland: House censures Democratic who used racial slur while referring to a district
Both Watkins and Damman said that the local controversy that has arisen from Cramer’s comments will ultimately spur a more constructive conversation for local residents.
And Damman said he wants to “ensure that everyone is heard.”
“It just tells us that as far as we have come as a society, there is still a very disappointing, close-minded, oppressive viewpoint out there,” the mayor said. “And I think we have to have the conversations that make all areas a better place for people of all races, nationalities and origins.”
Black rag dolls meant to be abused get pulled from shelves – comes with instructions to “slam against the wall”
They’re called “Feel Better Dolls.”
In the instructions, buyers are told to take the black rag dolls — which come with red, green, black and yellow hair made of yarn, styled in dreadlocks — and “find a wall to slam” them against.
“Whenever things don’t go well and you want to hit the wall and yell, here’s a little ‘feel better doll,’” the instructions read. “Just grab it firmly by the legs…and as you whack the ‘feel good doll’ do not forget to yell I FEEL GOOD, I FEEL GOOD.”
The toys were being pulled from shelves in New Jersey this week after sparking outrage among residents and state officials.
“This doll is offensive and disturbing on so many levels,” said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, who represents Bayonne and other areas of Jersey City.
“It is clearly made in an inappropriate representation of a black person and instructs people to ‘slam’ and ‘whack’ her,” the official charged in a statement. “Racism has no place in the world and I will not tolerate it, especially not in this district.”
The dolls were being sold at a One Dollar Zone store in Bayonne and at least two other locations across the Garden State, though it’s unclear where.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis blasted them as “insensitive” in a Facebook post this week— saying they “can certainly be considered racist.”
“Aside from the shock of seeing such an insensitive product being sold in our community, I am grateful for the people that saw it and said something immediately,” Davis said. “We will not tolerate any symbol of hate and division within our community! #WeAreBayonne.”
One Dollar Zone President Ricky Shah issued an apology after pulling the dolls Monday. The Paterson-based company was blaming their existence on a simple error of not checking a large shipment of new items — centered around an “I Love NY” theme — that had come into their stores recently.
“This somehow slipped through the cracks,” Shah said in a statement.
The manufacturer of the dolls — the Harvey Hutter Co., based in New York — couldn’t be reached Friday. Shah claimed that it appears to no longer be in business.
The company’s supplier, Global Souvenir Marketing, did not respond to requests for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/26/black-rag-dolls-meant-to-be-abused-get-pulled-from-shelves/
Photo Credit: Angela McKnight via AP
Woman who used racial slur in confrontation with black diners says she’d do it again
A white North Carolina woman was caught in a now-viral video using the N-word while confronting a group of black women at a restaurant — and then doubled down on her serving of hate, saying she’d use the slur again, according to a report.
A 66-second clip posted to Facebook on Tuesday by Chanda Stewart, who is black, shows a woman identified as Nancy Goodman speaking to an employee at Bonefish Grill in Raleigh, complaining that the three nearby women were being disruptive and too loud.
“So am I shocked because this person had the audacity right here to come to our table and tell us that we are the rudest people that she has ever met,” Stewart says, alluding to the smiling white woman. “Look at her … We’re paying for our food just like everybody else and she told us that we are the rudest people ever.”
Goodman then pulls out her phone and walks around her table to confront the women, video shows, telling them that she has “really good” friends who are black.
“And I love them,” Goodman says.
“We never said anything about color,” Stewart replies.
Goodman then tells the group she thought they were being “too loud,” prompting another woman at Stewart’s table to say that their money was “just as green” as hers.
“Oh, you’re so stupid, n—-r,” Goodman replies before walking away from the women’s table, video shows.
Goodman later told WRAL that she wasn’t sorry for using the slur, saying she would “say it again” to the group of women.
“I’m not going to say I’m sorry to them because they kept pushing at it,” Goodman told the station. “I would say it again to them. They are the rudest individuals I have ever seen.”
Goodman, who insisted she wasn’t racist, apologized to her family, friends and other customers at the restaurant in a since-deleted post on her Facebook page, saying she had “extreme anxiety” but admitted that did not excuse her behavior.
“I am ashamed of my actions,” she wrote in the post.
A spokeswoman for the restaurant’s parent company, meanwhile, told WRAL that the incident was being reviewed so such confrontations can be de-escalated in the future.
“We do not tolerate hate speech or disrespect in our restaurants,” a spokeswoman for Bloomin’ Brands told the station.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Gun-toting frat bros pose in front of Emmett Till memorial, may face federal charges
Three fraternity brothers at the University of Mississippi have been suspended by chapter officials — and are possibly facing federal charges — for taking a photo in front of a bullet-riddled sign honoring slain civil rights icon Emmett Till while holding a shotgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
“The photo is on Instagram with hundreds of ‘likes,’ and no one said a thing,” says a complaint filed with the UM Office of Student Conduct.
The Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, reviewed the complaint and obtained a copy of the picture in question, which was taken earlier this year.
Ole Miss student and Kappa Alpha Order member Ben LeClere posted it on his private page in March and is reportedly the one holding a shotgun.
Two of his fraternity brothers, John Lowe and another young man who has yet to be identified, can be seen posing alongside him — the latter of whom is toting the AR-15.
A fourth person, said to be the photographer, may have also been with the trio, the complaint says.
KA officials reportedly suspended LeClere, Lowe and the other man on Wednesday after the photo was brought to their attention by the Center for Investigative Reporting.
“The photo is inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. It does not represent our chapter,” said Taylor Anderson, president of Ole Miss’ Kappa Alpha Order, in an email to the center. “We have and will continue to be in communication with our national organization and the University.”
US Attorney Chad Lamar, of the Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford, was also shown the image and chose to refer it to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for further investigation.
“We will be working with them closely,” he said Thursday.
Ole Miss officials condemned the students’ actions, calling the photo “offensive and hurtful.” They claimed to have received a copy of it back in March, which they forwarded and referred to university police — who then gave it to the FBI.
University spokesman Rod Guajardo told the Center for Investigative Reporting that the FBI decided to not investigate the incident because the picture “did not pose a specific threat.”
He pointed out how while the image may be “offensive,” it’s not a violation of the Ole Miss code of conduct — since it was taken off campus and not at a university-affiliated event.
However, the school “stands ready to assist the fraternity with educational opportunities for those members and the chapter,” Guajardo said.
The Emmett Till sign that was captured in the photo has been targeted several times since being erected in 2008.
Vandals reportedly threw the first site marker into the nearby Tallahatchie River — where Till’s body was dumped after his 1955 lynching. The second was shot up repeatedly, with officials estimating that it got blasted more than 315 times before finally being removed and replaced in 2016.
The third and most recent sign, which was captured in the IG photo, had to be taken down last week after being riddled once again with bullet holes. It’s unclear if LeClere, Lowe and the other young man were responsible.
The fraternity brothers are just the latest Ole Miss students to come under fire for incidents involving civil rights icons.
A trio of Sigma Phi Epsilon members got hit with federal charges several years ago after they placed a noose around the neck of a James Meredith statue, along with a Confederate flag.
Meredith was the first known black student to attend Ole Miss.
One of the fraternity members pleaded guilty and received six months in prison for “using a threat to intimidate African American students and employees because of their race or color,” according to the Center for Investigative Reporting.
All of them wound up withdrawing from the university. The school’s Sigma Phi chapter was later shuttered following an internal investigation.
“Hazing, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and failure to comply with the university and fraternity’s codes of conduct” were the reasons given as to why the fraternity’s national headquarters was closing the chapter.
Photo Credit: Instagram/Mississippi Center For Investigative Reporting
TV anchor fired for suggesting Baltimore needs a change from black female mayors
A Baltimore TV anchor has been fired after suggesting the city needed a “different kind” of mayor after three black women had held the post.
Mary Bubala, 49, was fired from WJZ after 15 years at the station following a huge backlash from her comments while covering the recent resignation of Mayor Catherine Pugh amid a corruption scandal.
“We’ve had three female, African American mayors in a row,” the anchor said on-air.
“They were all passionate public servants. Two resigned, though. Is this a signal that a different kind of leadership is needed to move Baltimore City forward?”
After an outcry, she later tweeted a “sincere apology,” insisting the “question did not come out the way I intended.”
“I am so deeply sorry and sincerely regret the words I chose,” she wrote.
However, WJZ general manager Audra Swain confirmed to the Baltimore Sun that “Mary Bubala is no longer a WJZ-TV employee.”
“The station apologizes to its viewers for her remarks,” Swain added.
Bubala posted to Facebook after her firing, insisting that it was not in her “heart to intentionally cause this kind of harm.”
“Unfortunately, I now stand in the path of the tornado,” she wrote.
“WJZ was forced to let me go. I am saddened and shocked by this decision. I fully intend to fight to restore my reputation because I’ve invested my heart and soul in my work and my city.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
BBC host Danny Baker fired after comparing royal baby Archie to a chimp
One of Britain’s best-known broadcasters was fired by the BBC on Thursday for a tweet he wrote comparing the new royal baby to a chimp.
Danny Baker, 61, tweeted out a photo of a chimp in a suit holding hands with a smartly dressed couple, writing, “Royal baby leaves hospital.”
It sparked instant outrage because of the clear racist undertones against Duchess of Sussex Meghan, 37, whose mom, Doria Ragland, is African American.
Baker admitted it had been a “stupid unthinking gag” — but insisted it was an innocent dig at the royals that was being wildly misinterpreted.
“Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased,” he wrote. “Soon as those good enough to point out its possible connotations got in touch, down it came. And that’s it.”
He later called the backfired joke “grotesque” and “an enormous mistake,” sending a message to Harry and Meghan’s newborn Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, “Here’s to ya Archie, Sorry mate.”
His apologies were not enough, however, with him soon tweeting, “Just got fired.”
“This was a serious error of judgment,” insisted a BBC spokesman, saying the joke “goes against the values we as a station aim to embody.”
“Danny’s a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us.”
Baker remained defiant, damning the call to fire him as a “masterclass of pompous faux-gravity”
“Took a tone that said I actually meant that ridiculous tweet and the BBC must uphold blah blah blah,” he added. “Literally threw me under the bus. Could hear the suits knees knocking.” He ended the message, “#F–kem.”
Royal baby Archie was born Monday, with proud parents Meghan and Prince Harry publicly debuting him Wednesday.
Photo Credit: nypost.com/AP
Prominent professor says grandson called N-word at elementary school
A prominent Georgetown University professor claims his 6-year-old grandson was called the N-word and threatened with a gun at his school in Washington, DC.
The incident, involving Michael Eric Dyson’s grandson Maxem, happened in the lunchroom Tuesday at Horace Mann Elementary School, DC Public Schools officials told Fox 5 DC.
Dyson, who teaches sociology at Georgetown and frequently speaks about race relations on TV, said the other student who allegedly hurled the slur and threats is a first-grader who is white.
“He says, ‘I’m going to go home and get my father’s gun and come back and shoot you,’” Dyson told Fox 5. “Unfortunately this represents for us the deep and abiding roots of white supremacy that are set loose in this country. How can a 6-year-old kid know to call his classmate the N-word?”
He said the confrontation occurred when Maxem and the other student rushed to be first in line.
The other child was allowed to finish out the school day, “which is incredible to me,” said Dyson.
District spokesman Shayne Wells said a threat was made but officials are working to determine whether a slur was also used.
The student was spoken to by the principal and officials are now determining appropriate discipline. They also plan to meet with the child’s parents.
Dyson provided an update on Twitter following a meeting Wednesday with Maxem’s parents, the other student’s parents, school officials and police.
“I’m glad to report none of them were defensive. They owned up immediately to what happened, were horrified themselves about the situation and behavior and have pledged not only to address this particular incident, but an institutional response to systemic problems of race and violence that need to be addressed,” Dyson said in a video posted on Twitter.
The scholar urged others to share similar stories.
“Send me your stories, I want to use my platform to advocate for you,” he said.
In a statement, the district said, “We will provide Mann the support it needs to adequately address this issue and continue to partner with our school communities to ensure meaningful learning and positive interactions occur within all of our school buildings.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/05/01/prominent-professor-says-grandson-called-n-word-at-elementary-school/
Photo Credit: Photo By Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Attorney claims he was detained in case of ‘lawyering while black’
A Maryland attorney claims he was mistaken for a suspect and briefly detained by a sheriff’s deputy during a court proceeding earlier this month — a case of “lawyering while black,” according to his attorneys.
Rashad James, a staff attorney for Maryland Legal Aid’s community lawyering initiative, alleged in a complaint obtained by the Baltimore Sun that he was mistaken for his client, who is also black, during his court appearance representing defendants in Harford County District Court on March 6.
“This is actually the first time this has occurred to me, and I do not know of any colleagues who have had a similar experience,” James told the newspaper. “In the moment, it was sort of surreal in the sense that I guess it was just one of those unexpected things that I just did not anticipate.”
James, the only black attorney in the courtroom at the time, said the deputy briefly detained and questioned him on the basis of his race. James’ client, who did not attend the proceeding, had an open warrant out for his arrest, according to the attorney’s complaint.
James provided the deputy with his driver’s license, but the officer didn’t think it was valid. He was released about 10 minutes later, the complaint alleged.
Maryland Legal Aid staffers said in a statement that they were troubled by the “deeply disturbing incident,” which they characterized as an instance of “lawyering while black.”
“If Mr. James were white, the officer would not have doubted that Mr. James was an attorney, would not have questioned his identity, and certainly would not have detained Mr. James after seeing his driver’s license,” said Andrew Freeman, an attorney who is representing James. “There is no plausible explanation other than racial bias.”
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler confirmed in a statement obtained by The Post that his office is investigating James’ claims.
“As with all complaints, the complaints filed on behalf of Mr. James was promptly assigned to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office-Office of Professional Standards for a complete and thorough investigation,” Gahler said. “We take all complaints seriously.”
Gahler also criticized James’ attorneys for releasing the name of the deputy before the investigation has been completed.
“Releasing it without cause, and on speculative accusations alone, can destroy a law enforcement officer’s reputation and threaten their safety,” Gahler’s statement continued. “Noting the need for a thorough investigation and the often incorrectness of premature rushing to judgment that is all too common in our society today, it is disappointing that anyone associated with our legal process would intentionally work to malign the character of another person.”
James, who was not available for an interview early Wednesday, said he’ll now carry business cards with him in the courtroom to prevent a repeat occurrence.
“At no time did I feel in danger,” he told WBAL. “I knew, regardless, that I wasn’t in the wrong.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/27/attorney-claims-he-was-detained-in-case-of-lawyering-while-black/