OK -- So here's the story: I have a summer job in a restaurant in an area where there aren't very many black people. Today, a group of two or three African-Americans came in and were sat in a section in the corner of the building. Apparently, after a few minutes no one had helped them out and they got up, then came in a few minutes later and one of the men in the group was angry and let our manager know about it. She apologized, explained that she was outside with the waiter who was working the section his party was sat in dealing with an irate customer. The guy claimed that several waiters walked by his table and did nothing...That there was clear discrimination against African Americans in this situation. Our manager then offered to personally serve his group if they wanted to come back inside -- the man then claimed there was no way he'd enter a restaurant where such blatant racism and discrimination took place. Well, the somewhat funny thing about the situation is that the waiter assigned to his section was actually a black guy. I wasn't in that part of the restaurant waiting tables, so I don't know what to say, I didn't see what happened or how long the guy waited -- but I feel like this guy was so completely wrong claiming racism...in this case. I have no doubt that racism exists, that this guy had been the victim of racism in the past, and probably in a similar situation (not getting any service while going out to eat). The people that I worked with tonight have never shown any racist tendencies that I have noticed. There were about 4-5 other waiters working that night, one is a guy from Mexico who is one of the kindest/nicest people I know, one girl who I really didn't know, one girl who I've had a discussion with about how stupid racist people are, my best friend (who is engaged to a black girl), myself (Just last weekend I actually had an African American couple wait after their meal, find my manager, and then tell him how much they appreciated my excellent service.), and the guy assigned to the section of their restaurant who is a black man. There are a ton of things I feel like the guy should have been upset about -- particularly ****ty service, but he was totally out of line claiming racism in this situation. He wasn't loud or belligerent -- but clearly wrong. After hearing the guy complain about being discriminated against, I started thinking about when there was a lot of negative publicity against Denny's when I was younger for allegedly discriminating against blacks. I talked to my best friend about the situation and says he feels like there have been situations where he feels like racism might have been at the root of poor service when he had gone out with his fiance in the past. He also said that racism was never the first thing that popped into his mind in these situations, but it kind of crept into the back of his head after a while. So, my question is this -- if you're African American, have you experienced something like this scenario before? In a similar situation, would you have felt as if you had been the victim of discrimination? Again, I think that the guy had probably been discriminated against several times in his past (the guy was probably about 50-55 years old) -- but to call a group of people racist is pretty heavy stuff...I almost want to say that I am a little hurt by the guy's accusations even though he didn't directly make them against me or anyone else in the building.
I've had a couple of cases where when I was a kid getting a haircut I was the subject of racism. I'm half Scottish/Mexican. When I was a kid, I'd hang out in the sun a lot and get a wicked dark tan. It's kind of the nice benefit for me seeing as how I can mix in with either race provided I get enough sun or lack thereof. Once was in Houston where I lived in the Missouri City district of Houston closer to the ghetto side of the city. Most of my neighborhood was 95% black with about 4% being Hispanic and the last 1% being white. My parents were out and my brother in law dropped by and agreed to take me to a place to get a haircut. He ended up driving to the nearest shop he could find. It ended up being a barbershop that reminded me of the movie Barbershop. Like 100% black people there, one clear red headed curly haired white guy, and one little half mexican kid around 10 or so black guys including the barbers. Most of the people there were just chilling there to talk, and a few would walk in to get a haircut. Out of the 5 barbers there, 4 said they didn't have the proper equipment to cut my hair and only one guy did but he was with a customer. When atleast 10 other customers all black came after me they got their haircuts almost immediately but I chilled for a good hour with my brother in law there. My brother in law is white almost to the point of being clear but he refused to leave and find another spot to get a haircut for me. Finally the one guy that apparently had the proper equipment to cut my hair did, and did a good job I might add. I laugh about it now but now that I think about it, it was racism at work. I mean how hard is it to get some scissors and use a razor and trim up the sides and the bangs. My other haircut story was in Austin in the Oak Hill district. My mom drove me to get a haircut at a barbershop there in an all white barbershop and they did the same thing. I'd end up waiting in there for an hour or longer even if it was deserted because they knew my mom was dark tanned Mexican as was I. Now I just go to Supercuts and the barbershop I used to go to in Oak Hill is now out of business or relocated, so in the end it all worked out. At the times those acts happened I refused to believe there was racists intent behind stalling their service for me but now I see it clearly. Racism sucks but thats far from the worst treatment I could have received so its all good.
I can't really say if it's racism or not but I have been in several scenarios similar to the one mentioned in the first post. The last incident was at iHOP a month or so ago. Do I get mad and scream racism every time it happens? No because I am really not sure if it is. I have never lodged a complaint with a manager or any waiter about my service. That doesn't mean every time I received bad service it was racism but it doesn't mean it wasn't either. About the haircut scenario. I would be less quick to dismiss this as racism. The reason, the hair type. I am mixed and I have hair that is very stiff but straight, hard to explain. I like to get a fade hair cut with all the hair being as short as possible, sometimes called a bald fade. Anyway, when my barber was out of town a few times I went to white hairstylists/barbers at the following locations: SuperCuts, J. Michaels, Regis, and Fantastic Sam's. Three times the stylist or barber gave me a bowl cut and the other time it was a buzz cut, nothing close to being what I wanted. One time, one of them actually called a black stylist over to see if they were doing it right and she tried to fix it but to no avail and the other times they actually had to look in styling books to see what I was talking about. I was forced to wait behind other people while they tried to figure out what it was I wanted but like I said they were dealing with a different hair and style then they were used to and did not want to mess up, which they did anyway. Now I just wait on my barber, no matter how long it takes. I actually tried to take my friend's son to my barber to see if he could cut it the way she wanted it cut. He cut it and she liked it but it was not the way she wanted and I even had to wait that day so he could find some scissors and a comb. Most of the black barbers I have been to in Jonesboro, Little Rock, and Memphis do not have scissors or razors for obvious reasons. Like I said, different hair, style, and equipment needed but take it how you want. If you see it as racist then that's fine I was just trying to show that it may not have been.
I can understand where that group is coming from. Going to a restaurant still means having a good time. The last thing a good restaurant would do is to make their customers assume such a thing as racism. Sure, they were ignorant of the situation, but they more than likely had good reason to assume that way from past experiences. It wouldn't be the first and last time they have to wait to get a seat to use their money... I remember my family getting the waiting treatment at Dennys a little before when the lawsuits started. We sat on the bench for 10 minutes when there was medium traffic. No one told us why there was a wait, and we finally left when a couple was seated right after they came in. The hostess came out to ask us come back, but that was enough. Another instance I remember with the family was when we went to Shoneys and for some reason, our black waitress thought we weren't good enough to eat at such a fine establishment. She practically looked down on us while giving half a snarl while she took our order. I distinctly remember the only time she made half an effort to smile was when she gave us the check. The service wasn't horrible, but she made no effort to hide that she didn't want us there. And we made no effort on the tip. (I expect to read responses from former and present waiters about tipping regardless of ****ty service...) For some reason, I get angrier about racist service with the family than when I go out with other people.
One of my friends/co-workers is black so I consider myself an expert on the topic of racism...they even made me a certificate! anyway, I think if something bad does happen to you because of race, when you get put into a frustrating situation its hard not to think that its race if you can't see another reason. It becomes the default reason if you aren't being treated fairly and can't see any other reason. And when you don't know something, its always better to have an answer you like than one you don't know or understand. White people have a great luxury in this country in that they don't have to think about race unless it actually confronts them. For everyone else, its still an issue and racism still exists enough to the point that its hard not to act suspicious when you are being treated unfairly. In this situation, what they saw was that they were the only black people in the restaurant (something that non-white people notice more than white people), they were ignored and no one was serving them. They didn't know they had a black waiter who wasn't serving them. Sometimes the facts speak for themselves so I don't think he was out of line in this particular situation (although there are a lot of situations where this happens where I do think they are wrong). It always feels worse suspecting that you are treated unfairly because of racism than to actually be called a racist, so at the end of a day, those guys had a worse day.
I think absolutely 100% there was racism involved in that situation even if the waiter of that section was black. The general rule of thought in restaurant waiters (from when I used to work in the industry) is that the darker the skin, the lower the tip. The only time you dont go by that rule is when the customer is European, as they will almost never tip you, and if they do, it's a courtesy tip for the busboy, like $2 on a $100 check. The black waiters I worked with didn't like to serve blacks because the perception was that they generally tipped around 10% while white people tipped around 16%-20%. The poor service comes as a result of the waiter making a prejudgment of the customer based on the color of their skin.
really? i'm white as hell. bad service...to the point of having to get up and walk out...isn't foreign to me. i've never assumed for a second it was because i was white. i think it's entirely possible that racism was at the heart of this...but i'm not 100% certain it was. if it had never happened to me as a white guy, then, yeah...i guess i'd be much more likely to see it that way.
Max, I know there's bad service everywhere we go, but knowing how waiters in general perceive blacks (economically tip wise) and when you add in the whole anti-black thing to begin with, it makes it hard for me to ignore that.
I hear ya. I don't doubt for one second that crap happens. But to suggest that there's no other explanation?? That you're 100% sure you can read racism in the hearts of this waiter you've never met?? Because of one instance of bad service???
you're right, I suppose there could be other explanations. I shouldln't be judging at any rate anyway. it's just very hard for me to see past that issue since I've seen it happen so many times from the waiter's perspective.
It is probably more stereotyping a racist Stereotype but Stereotyping non-the-less [i.e. Black folx don't tip . . .ergo . . . I won't give them top notch service] So the concept that Black folx cannot be racist to black people is not correct they can and do base/vary their treatment of other black folx on various stereotypes and situations I have to wait plenty. After about 20 minutes I quietly start to gather my sh*t to go . . then they be like. . Have you been helped. . I say No and depending on my mood I step or I stay more often than not I will leave If I cannot trust you to come to the table promptly . . how can I trust you to be careful with my food? As for the barbershop I wear an small Afro because a trip to the local shop is like 2~3 hours. They take 30~45 minutes per person . . even for a Bald Fade then I get the "He left and came back that is why he ahead of you' Crap Rocket River Rocket River
What I was going to say. It doesn't matter who the waiter is, if they've been in the industry for a little while, they have a rundown on who tips and who doesn't. Men out to lunch from the office tip big; women out to lunch from the office don't. The cowboys will rack up a big ticket with steak and alcohol. Etc. That blacks don't tip well is just another in the laundry list. So, I'm not ready to say the patron was completely wrong; if he was white with a big cowboy belt, would one of the other waiters notice he was neglected and try to cover? As for barbers, I went to get my hair cut at a local barber soon after moving into the 3rd Ward. I was a bit apprehensive that I wouldn't be accepted. But the barber didn't flinch and just went to work cutting my hair. Unfortunately, he had no clue how to cut white people's hair. So, I've been getting my hair cut near the office since. I want to go to a local barber, but I don't want to have to walk out with another bad haircut.
But if the waiter was outside dealing with another customer....and hadn't even seen this one, would it necessarily have been racism if he wasn't aware of the custormers skin tone? Perhaps, in this case, it was just really poor service?
if thats the case would it be more money motivated and not race? seems he's a little hyper senstive (the orginal story) and maybe he has a perfectly good right to be but did he try to get the attention of one of the "several" waiters walking by? he could have been sitting there mad-dogging, and whos going to stop for that? anyways, racism does exist but i think some people are too quick to jump to that excuse. I dont think its racism when i go to a mexican food place and get lousy service. Maybe it is, maybe it isnt but i dont really care either way.
ding ding ding!! restaurants, bars, wherever. i've heard MANY times that black people don't tip or mexicans don't tip or whatever. that's often the reason for poor service. blatant racism.
Studies show that they don't. It's not racism. It's economics. If I knew that people who wore blue shirts didn't tip well, I probably wouldn't be going out of my way to serve them. That's what tipping does. It encourages good service.
hmm I think it would be more money motivated if the waiter has had direct dealings with a particular customer before and doesn't want to serve them because of the low tip. However, the thought that blacks don't tip well is a statement made based entirely on someone's color, which makes it a racist statement.
