ANTI-BLACK RACISM

Why Some Restaurants Continue to Deny Service to Black People

How do they get away with continuing this practice? Laws change, but anti-black racism is persistent in American society

Imagine this. Two Black truck drivers, hungry from their travels, pull into Denny's parking lot in South Dakota to order some breakfast and a White waitress denies them service. Naturally, you might assume that this event is historical, a regular occurrence during the Jim Crow era, but you'd be wrong. These events actually occurred last summer, on August 13th, to be exact. Damon Whitfield and Hector Madera came into the Sioux Falls' Denny's restaurant, expecting to receive service, when instead, they waited for over two hours as employees walked past them, refusing to greet them or ask them what they'd like to order. Front-of-house staff are expected to greet customers quickly, and tables are assigned to servers, so why did the waitress deny them service? Despite civil rights legislation prohibiting restaurants from racially discriminating against clientele, anti-black racism remains a virulent toxin in American culture.

The racial discrimination Black people continue to experience in American restaurants dispels the notion that we live in a post-racial society. While racial segregation is no longer legally enforceable, there are some restaurants and businesses that deny service to Black customers, although less explicitly. While the White server did not tell Whitfield or Madera that they could not eat at Denny's because they were Black men, her willingness to serve all the White men sitting in her section resulted in the same outcome, depriving Black customers of service. To make matters worse, not only did the server ignore the Black truck drivers, but she also called the police to remove them. "There are a lot of people here. It would be nice if you guys could leave," the waitress told the pair. To which they responded by asking what they did wrong. She claimed she wasn't "in the situation," which indicates maybe she wasn't the server assigned to them, but she was the one tasked with asking them to leave and added an ominous warning, "The police are on the way."

“We’re not trying to play the race card, but when you look in there ain’t nobody else in there that’s Black but us,” one man told the officer.

“They’re serving everybody else,” the other man added.

To be clear, two hard-working Black men were turned away from Denny's due to no fault of their own but as a result of the waitress's racism. In the past, I've shared my experiences of working in New Orleans' French Quarter, the racial discrimination Black workers regularly experience, such as being forced to work in "back of the house" positions regardless of their preference, and the racism of servers who regularly asked me to take tables with Black customers because they felt it was beneath them to attend to their needs. So, while the racism in American restaurants is nothing new to me, it is shocking to learn about the prevalence of racism. While White people told our grandparents that they couldn't sit at the same lunch counters as them, modern-day White people use other strategies, like ignoring Black customers and hoping they go away, rather than explicitly using racist language.

As a Black woman, I can relate to their experience of being denied service. One year, my family spent New Year's Eve in Algiers Point, a New Orleans community on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. We found parking and a spot to watch the fireworks, and my brother and I walked to grab a drink from a nearby restaurant, the only one serving liquor nearby. Sadly, after sitting at the bar for thirty minutes and witnessing White customers who sat down after me be served, have their drinks, and leave, I came to the regrettable conclusion that they racially discriminated against us and refused to serve us. Nevertheless, I was uncertain of how to proceed and felt that their denial would reign supreme, so from then on, I refused to go there, entering a sort of silent protest. Racism doesn't require a "no blacks allowed" sign. It makes me wonder how many Black Americans have done the same, experienced discrimination and felt doubly slighted by their color-blind racism.

While many Americans are attached to the myth that we live in a post-racial society, the bitter truth is that anti-Black racism is pervasive in American society, and our restaurant industry is no exception. In 2020, a Baltimore restaurant denied service to a Black boy for the clothes he wore despite admitting a White boy wearing the same outfit. A Black man, Kevin Wheeler, faced discrimination at a Massatussettes Subway from someone who said, "I don't help your kind.” There is a pattern of racism. One study showed 63.4% of servers reported "they at least sometimes observe their coworkers making racist comments, 25% reported observing their managers making such comments, and 70% reported observing the use of racially coded argot in their workplaces," and 52.4% confessed that they sometimes observe coworkers treating Black clientele poorly. Restaurants that are not talking to their staff about racism are perpetuating the status quo, which, to be clear, is treating Black customers as less important or valuable than White customers.

Is it possible to abolish racism through legislation? Perhaps not, because this ideology is pervaisive in our systems. Even though it's illegal to discriminate against clientele racially, restaurants do it all the time. Unless these companies are sued in civil court, patterns and practices are rarely addressed, and that's unfortunate because Black employees and customers deserve more. Sure, Denny's is in the limelight today, but they are not the only company guilty of denying service to Black people. While civil rights legislation has created a society that is more hospitable for Black Americans and other marginalized groups, it's essential to acknowledge that it hasn't solved the problem of racism. Despite the legislative and cultural gains made through passing civil rights legislation, some Black customers continue to experience racism and are often treated with disdain rather than appreciation. The only way things can change is if restaurants educate employees about racism, and some will be more willing to embrace that journey than others.

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