Students Say Chicago Nightclub Refused To Admit Black People
Six black college students on a senior trip to Chicago say they were refused entry into Chicago's Original Mother's bar while 200 of their white classmates got in without a problem, CNN reports.
Club management told the students they were just enforcing a dress code, not allowing those with baggy jeans to enter, but a white and black student switched clothes and the black student still couldn't get in.
The CNN story says:
Washington University Chancellor Mark Wrighton sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to express his "most intense disappointment" about the incident. In the letter — a copy of which was provided to CNN by Cutz — Wrighton told the mayor that he "can only imagine the humiliation and discouragement these six young students felt ... when they were turned away from this establishment because of their race."
Students also contacted the Anti-Defamation League and the Chicago Urban League. The two organizations jointly sent a letter to the bar, writing that they "strongly suggest that Mother's re-examine its dress code, conduct immediate retraining of all employees to avoid any future racial discrimination or appearance thereof, and issue a formal letter of apology to the six students who were denied entry."
If you've got any racist bouncer/bar owner tales, please share.
Students: Chicago nightclub barred blacks [CNN]
(Photo: CNN)
(Thanks, Joe!)
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Comments:
Not racist...but a local long time college burger joint/bar has a strict dress code for ...men. No hats, no short shorts, no muscle shirts, etc. However, women can come in with the shortest skirt and spaghetti straps and no issues at all. I think the local paper ran a story on it.
1. Any private establishment has the right to refuse anyone for any reason, racist or not.
2. After being denied entry, the black students and the white students switched clothes (to prove a point maybe?) and were still denied entry (blaming it on race). Do they really think club bouncers are that stupid? If you're denied once for any reason, you're going to be remembered. Trying over and over again is going to ensure you never get into the club.
3. Why the outrage? Contacting the mayor? Really? Get over it. Life isn't fair.
4. If 200 black students were let in, and six white students were kept out, this wouldn't be a story.
Kudos for the students for switching clothes to try to trick the nightclub. Very clever.
@Tito151:
...sorry, but I've been to Bloomington, IN, and surrounding areas...a "haven of open-minded, free thinking people" it is not. It's closer to Deliverance than Enlightenment.
Have you ever been to Mothers? You need at least three popped collars to get in - something very few [strikethrough]douchebags[/strikethrough] people have.
And... I would never want to swap clothes in order to wear that many popped collars just to pay $9 for a bud light in a can, and to shout at my friends about the skanks pounding jager bombs.
Having said that, racism sucks.
According to the link, it was "security concerns" not racism... And they are "taking the issue very seriously." So I am sure it will work out in the end...
From CNN:
But a representative of the bar told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday that security concerns, not racism, guided the decision. One day later, a bar representative told the paper the club was taking the issue "very seriously," conducting an internal investigation and that disciplinary action would be taken if necessary.
While I think the actions of the club owners are reprehensible, once they were denied entry for clearly race-based reasons why would they still want to enter and not only give the club their money but essentially legitimize their behavior? On top of that, where were their classmates during this? They should have been leaving the club like there was a fire inside. I can't even imagine continuing to patronize an establishment that won't let in my friends/classmates because of their race.
Remember Denny's?
The likelihood is that is was a single bouncer or the security manager's idea.
I am surprised it wasn't caught on camera once the students decided to see what happens when they switch clothes.
@Saboth:
...while I must resist the temptation to ask whether or not you really want to see men in the bar with mini skirts and speghetti straps, I think the point is probably twofold...
1. Society has determined that men and women have different expectations for their appearance going out on the town...also, men have a relatively tightly-defined "acceptable dress code" whereas women really don't...so long as no naughty bits are showing and the clothing is clean, it's probably good to go.
2. It's a bar. The bar wants hot women to be present, which means they're all about miniskirts and spaghetti straps. That attracts more men into the place, which ultimately means more business.
2.
@katstermonster: I thought that was a good idea too. I can definitely understand wanting your patrons to adhere to a certain dress code (places wouldn't have dress codes if they didn't work), but this just proves that this club uses the guise of a dress code to keep minorities out.
Not saying that this is right but, if this is a private club, can't they keep out anyone they don't want for any reason?
I'm not at all defending this, but as a private club, are they not allowed to discriminate if they were so inclined?
That's crazy, they are probably only allowed to let in five percent black people. That means if there's 25 people here I get to let in one and a quarter black people. So they gotta hope there's a black midget in the crowd.
I have definitely been there in the company of black coworkers, though only in business attire.
Even if it were a dress code issue, what business is stupid enough to turn away a group of 200 people?
Waah.
@Ouze: nope, if its open to the public they cant discriminate.
When you talk about a private club, you are talking about a club like the Freemasons, or the Moose lodge. Clubs that allow the public to enter freely like your local dance club or bar have to adhere to federal discrimination laws meaning they can kick you out for not adhering to a dress code or are unruly, but they cant just ban blacks or gays or Irish or what have you.
Just proves that we as a country still have a long way to go...
@Tito151: just because they are church clothes doesn't mean they fit properly. I have seen some people go to work with pants hanging off their ass and they are stepping into an office building. Pull you pants up and wear clothes that fit.
@FatLynn: Ah, thanks for clarifying that. I see someone asked the same question further down and someone else explained the difference between these clubs and what a private club really is.
@Ouze:
Chicago has a fairly strong anti-discrimination law. The relevant part...
[egov.cityofchicago.org])%0D%0A/I+Want+To&context=dept&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Human+Relations&deptMainCategoryOID=-536891432
@Esquire99:
Link broken, try this.
2-160-070
No person that owns, leases, rents, operates, manages or in any manner controls a public accommodation shall withhold, deny, curtail, limit or discriminate concerning the full use of such public accommodation by any individual because of the individual's race, color, sex, gender identity, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military discharge status, or source of income. The prohibition contained in this section shall not apply to the following:
A private club or other establishment not in fact open to the public, except to the extent that the products, facilities or services thereof are made available to the general public or to the customers or patrons of another establishment that is a public accommodation;
Any facility, as to discrimination based on sex, which is distinctly private in nature, such as restrooms, shower rooms, bathhouses, dressing rooms, health clubs;
Any facility, as to discrimination based on sex, which restricts rental of residential or sleeping rooms to individuals of one sex;
Any educational institution, as to discrimination based on sex, which restricts enrollment of students to individuals of one sex.
Notwithstanding subsections (a) through (d) above, any person may use a public accommodation or any of its products, facilities or services that are open to persons of the sex or gender reflected on any government issued identification of that individual including a driver's license, a state identification card or passp
@YouDidWhatNow?: The issue is that the double standards that these black students faced are no worse than the double standards men of all races have been facing at bars for years. They may even have similar logic for wanting to discriminate against blacks as you detail in point 2. Doesn't mean they're allowed to do it.
Only difference is, society still thinks it's acceptable to discriminate on the grounds of being male.
@bornonbord: I think they switched clothes as an experiment to see whether it was an issue of improper clothing or an issue motivated by race.
My sister attended a wedding of an interracial couple and after the wedding they went to Nicky Blaine's Cocktail Lounge ([www.nickyblaines.com] warning: video autoplays). By the time they got there they were still in their tuxedo and wedding dress. They were denied entry and they feel that it was because the groom is black. It was never explicitly stated, but that is their strong belief.
@pecan 3.14159265: I was pointing out that no one should want to go to this bar in the first place, and that it's never been a secret they are racist. :-)
@adbak: But what about other guests? Certainly they had guests of all races, were some of them denied entrance?
I haven't yet encountered racism for interracial couples, but it seems to be less controversial for my "pairing" than it is for black and white couples.
@Esquire99: Agreed. I'm sure if 194 people were about to up and leave, policy (unspoken or not) would get changed real quick, even at a bar that is used to being crowded or having quick patron turnover.
I recall the last Club Dress Code on Consumerist where I was hoping that it was the promoters being tired of the Hip-Hop look rather than racism.
It's sorta depressing that they were right and I was wrong.
...Jeezus. What a way to open a morning.
@Trai_Dep: Although I LOVE that classmates switched clothing on the spot to prove Jim Crow wrong. So maybe there's hope.
@Burning pakalolo not even noticing the weather: Yay, a Churchgoer-hating troll. THAT'S an unexpected combo!
@pecan 3.14159265: I think it's also regional. There's a lot more anti-East-Asian prejudice on the West Coast than in the Midwest, for instance.
@YouDidWhatNow?: I may not want to see men in the bar with mini skirts and spaghetti straps, but if a guy showed up to the bar dressed like that I sure as hell wouldn't want him prevented from coming in the door.
If you can't see the difference between what you wouldn't like and what shouldn't be permitted, then you may want to reconsider your view on bouncers who don't want black people in their clubs. Or gays. Or transvestites...
@Saboth: No different from not requiring ladies to pay a cover fee. It's one of those things where if you want to think of it in one way it will seem wrong.
@FatLynn: Even if the got in before the blacks were turned away and had no idea what was going on outside?
@floraposte: If that's true (and I'm not saying it isn't), that's really bizarre because the most concentrated areas of Asian people are on the coasts. I mean, the biggest Chinatowns are in San Francisco, New York, and DC. You would think that people would be used to that kind of diversity.
I think sometimes people also mistake "unfamiliarity" with "prejudice" (not saying you are). Sometimes people who haven't had much interaction with people who aren't of the same race or ethnicity wonder whether X people live the same way, or eat the same way, and they ask questions - it comes off as racist, but it's actually because an ethnicity was previously an unknown quantity to a lot of people.
@AlphaLackey: "Only difference is, society still thinks it's acceptable to discriminate on the grounds of being male."
Hahahahaha. Call me when there's equal pay for equal work.
@mazzic1083: God, I can't get that video out of my head after all of this. It was the first thing that popped into it.
@pecan 3.14159265: You're Asian right? I think it's pretty acceptable in society for men of all races to be in relationships with Asian women because of that whole exotic/submissive Asian female fetish that's popular in the West.
@bornonbord: The gym I go to (at night) is next door to a bar and when I come out around 2 am under my breath I am looking around going: "f-in skanks, f-in skanks, f-in skanks." I love that video.
There is a bar in Bloomington, IN that ridiculous profiles blacks at the bar (may just be certain bouncers). I've heard a few stories... one which a friend getting denied for 'too baggy of pants' while wearing his nice church clothes. It really shocks me that this kind of thing would happen in Bloomington, a supposed haven of open-minded, free thinking people.