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EXCLUSIVE: NBA legend Dominique Wilkins opens up about experiencing the sting of racial discrimination when host of upscale Atlanta restaurant Le Bilboquet 'looked him up and down' then turned him away to 'keep a level of elegance'
Daily Mail (U.K.) ^ | July 12, 2021 | Laura Collins

Posted on 07/12/2021 9:55:40 AM PDT by Cecily

NBA legend Dominique Wilkins has opened up for the first time about the shocking moment he was turned away from an upscale Atlanta restaurant because of the color of his skin.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com the Hall of Famer, nine-time NBA All-Star and Atlanta Hawks Vice President told how he felt the sting of discrimination as the host of Le Bilboquet looked him up and down then refused to seat him on the grounds that they were trying to 'keep a level of elegance.'

He said, 'I've never got turned down by a single restaurant in my life until this new restaurant. I've been to all the top restaurants in the city – that's better food – and they've never turned me down.'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Local News; Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: dominiquewilkins
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Any venue that wants to "maintain a level of elegance" is going to have to require coat, tie and dress shoes for men, period, and a comparable requirement for women (business attire, not business "casual"). Anything else leaves too much room for interpretation.
1 posted on 07/12/2021 9:55:40 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: Cecily

I wonder how he was dressed?


2 posted on 07/12/2021 9:57:02 AM PDT by cyclotic (Live your life in such a way that they hate you as much as they hated Rush Limbaugh)
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To: Cecily

Matching hoodie and sweat pants?


3 posted on 07/12/2021 9:57:51 AM PDT by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Cecily

He’s a lying SOS.

He didn’t meet the dress code. So now he’s playing the race card.


4 posted on 07/12/2021 9:58:02 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I love my country. It's my government that I hate.)
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To: cyclotic
I wonder how he was dressed?

Sweats when the restaurant had a dress code.

5 posted on 07/12/2021 9:58:14 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: cyclotic

He was reported to have worn “designer” sports attire or something along those lines, which the restaurant was seen to allow others to wear.


6 posted on 07/12/2021 9:59:09 AM PDT by Cecily
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To: cyclotic
But Wilkins said, 'A lot of times people disguise discrimination or racism through different methods. In this place it was in the form of a dress code'

Its the job of everyone, everywhere, to always make black people feel good about themselves.

7 posted on 07/12/2021 9:59:58 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Cecily

I had the same thig happen to me in a Ethan Allan furniture store. So what? Get over it.


8 posted on 07/12/2021 9:59:59 AM PDT by LIConFem (Read up on Russia's Oct, 1917 Revolution... And prepare.)
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To: cyclotic

Must have been how he was dressed. Really doubt it had to do with race considering Atlanta is 80%+ black.


9 posted on 07/12/2021 10:00:55 AM PDT by carikadon (Don't mess with Texas)
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To: Cecily
I don't believe it, he was probably just upset because they didn't serve Chicken McNuggets™ ...
10 posted on 07/12/2021 10:01:31 AM PDT by SecondAmendment (This just proves my latest theory ... LEFTISTS RUIN EVERYTHING !)
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To: Cecily

Agreed. I suspect the refusal to seat him and his party had far more to do with attire than skin color. Hey, I’ve been given a tie to wear “so I wouldn’t feel out of place” in an establishment in NYC. Not racism, as 20-something geek I just didn’t anticipate the host of our business meeting suggesting that kind of place.


11 posted on 07/12/2021 10:02:19 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Biden/Harris - illegitimate and everyone knows it.)
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To: Cecily

Upset because he thought he didn’t need a reservation?


12 posted on 07/12/2021 10:02:45 AM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
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To: ThunderSleeps

He thought he could get an immediate seating with no reservation.


13 posted on 07/12/2021 10:04:26 AM PDT by TexasGator (UF)
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To: Cecily

is this a whites only restaurant

any black patrons served?


14 posted on 07/12/2021 10:04:55 AM PDT by joshua c (Dump the LEFT. Cable tv, Big tech, national name brands)
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To: SecondAmendment

“No Chicken McNuggets? What type of a place is this? Okay, I’ll take a double Whopper.”


15 posted on 07/12/2021 10:05:08 AM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: Cecily

I’m assuming this was some sort of dress code violation (”he looked him up and down”), and not a racial thing, which probably would have been illegal. Many years ago, I was asked to leave a hoity-toity bar because I was wearing a hat, which I was told violated their dress code. I think they associated the wearing of hats indoors with gang culture or pimping.


16 posted on 07/12/2021 10:05:14 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Cecily

this sounds more like a “do you know who i am?” situation


17 posted on 07/12/2021 10:05:40 AM PDT by joshua c (Dump the LEFT. Cable tv, Big tech, national name brands)
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To: TexasGator

Nope! He was turned away because he was wearing essentially warm-up jersey & pants with athletic shoes.


18 posted on 07/12/2021 10:05:49 AM PDT by DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon))
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To: TexasGator

“Yo, do you know who I am?”


19 posted on 07/12/2021 10:06:01 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: Cecily

Guess not all UGA Athletes can be as classy as Herschel Walker.


20 posted on 07/12/2021 10:06:43 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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