Posted on 12/13/2001 6:58:15 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:39:12 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twenty-one people filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against Cracker Barrel restaurants Thursday, accusing the nationwide chain of widespread racism, from segregating black customers in the smoking section to denying them service.
It was the largest civil rights lawsuit against a restaurant chain since Denny's settled a $46 million discrimination lawsuit in 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Alrighty then.. I'm glad you feel I have some redeeming qualities. If I agreed with everyone on FreeRepulic I would skip it. Have a nice Christmas yourself.
This will not end until unconstitutional laws which support this kind of extortion from businesses are removed. And if you think about it, I believe it says a lot for Cracker Barrel that the extortionists could only find 21 black disgruntled customers from thru out the entire nation to go on board for this extortion attempt.
I was just checking.
BTW, although I'm not defending the moron or the lawsuit, I'm also not about to call her a bad parent simply because she claims she tried to feed her kids at 9:52 p.m. For me to make that kind of judgment I would want to know the ages of her children (were they 2 and 3, or 12 and 13), and the reason why they were eating at that hour. On a recent trip to Florida, for example, our plane arrived 2.5 hours late. My children were hungry because they hadn't had anything to eat since mid-afternoon. All of the restaurants at the airport were closed. By the time I got the luggage and a rent-a-car and found a place to feed the kids, we were 10 minutes into the next day. So I guess that makes me a bad parent because I was feeding my kids dinner at midnight.
Also, as hard as this may be for you to believe, racism does still exist in the economic fabric of our society. Let me give you an example that I actually witnessed: A few months ago, I was eating lunch and tipping a pint of ale at bar/restaurant in a municipality just outside New York City. I had never been to the place before and didn't know a sole. The bartender, I noticed, was quite popular, and conversed easily with all of the regulars. As I was eating my lunch at the bar, a black guy sat down two stools away and ordered a beer and a bowl of soup. I thought the bartender was a bit rude to him, but since I didn't know her, I assumed perhaps that she had a few rough edges and that was just part of her personality (although she had been very attentive and polite to me). After the black guy left, one of the regulars asked the bartender whether she was having a bad day because she had been "awful snippy" to that guy. She responded -- and I quote -- "I just don't like n*gg#rs. They give me the creeps."
Now before you jump all over me, I'm not saying that CB discriminates or that any of the allegations in the lawsuit are true or that the lawsuit has merit. I am saying that there are still people in this country who judge and treat people differently based upon the color of their skin (i.e., JJ and Rev. Al) Nor am suggesting that CB condones or tolerates discrimination of any kind. What I am saying is that the black people who filed the complaint may have had the misfortune of encountering an employee of CB who happened to have a bad attitude, just like the bartender that I encountered. Is that the basis for a $100 million lawsuit? Not unless you can show me that CB actually encourages, promotes, or at least tolerates discrimination within its ranks.
Actually, I think its the other way around. They keep you waiting for the crummy food so that you waste your money on the tacky, but highly profitable trinkets in the gift shop.
Sounds like some law firms go through registers looking for restaurants with large insurance policies.
Most commercial insurance policies that I've dealt with over the last few years exclude coverage for civil rights violations, which is why the civil right cases are filed against large, corporate operations.
Uh-oh. Civil war talk. Huck, tell 'em what happens. You know, 'bout what the military will do and all.........
I used to work for a government agency. One time a black woman applied for this job. Her background and educational background virtually required that she be offered the job. When she was offered the job she kept coming up with one excuse after another why she couldn't report for work. Finally the time to accept the appointment expired and the job offer was retracted. It was later found out that she was a plant to see what would happen. I believe it will be discovered this is of a similar nature. This is akin to those phony accidents and other scams. I hope that CB fights this tooth and toenail all the way to the Supreme Court of necessary. The people of the United States are sick and tired of this nonsense and it is time to stand up on our own hind legs and fight this.
Good point. They couldn't win this one in court, that's not the purpose; the purpose of this is to pressure and smear a company with negative publicity until they can get a settlement. I would be majorly surprised if there is any racist conspiracy at CB.
Other more likely explanations:
1)In many instances the customers themselves were probably obnoxious a-holes, so they got crappy service.
2)Some of the people who served them don't hate black people in particular, they're just rude to everybody.
3)There also may have been those who have dealt with difficult black people in the past, and tend to overgeneralize. For instance--some restaraunt people will know from experience that blacks are far more likely to leave without paying, and are far more likely not to tip, and treat people accordingly.
Its not fair to do. But then groups do bear some responsibility for their own PR. A better way to fight discrimination then lawsuits would be for blacks to improve their standards of conduct, thus defeating the basis for any discrimination.
BTW As I mentioned in another post earlier I and my wife got dropped from the seating list twice at a black run restaraunt, no law suits, I just didn't come back.
Good point. They couldn't win this one in court, that's not the purpose; the purpose of this is to pressure and smear a company with negative publicity until they can get a settlement. I would be majorly surprised if there is any racist conspiracy at CB.
Other more likely explanations:
1)In many instances the customers themselves were probably obnoxious a-holes, so they got crappy service.
2)Some of the people who served them don't hate black people in particular, they're just rude to everybody.
3)There also may have been those who have dealt with difficult black people in the past, and tend to overgeneralize. For instance--some restaraunt people will know from experience that blacks are far more likely to leave without paying, and are far more likely not to tip, and treat people accordingly.
Its not fair to do. But then groups do bear some responsibility for their own PR. A better way to fight discrimination then lawsuits would be for blacks to improve their standards of conduct, thus defeating the basis for any discrimination.
BTW As I mentioned in another post earlier I and my wife got dropped from the seating list twice at a black run restaraunt, no law suits, I just didn't come back.
Where I live, its not the black people who behave that way, but the rich, spoiled white kids who attend the local colleges.
LOL, so how much do you think we can get out of them? (S)
Maybe this is part of the problem. Maybe some are so busy looking around the gift shop that they don't hear their name called, and think others are being seated ahead of them.
Once in a while, I've had bad service, but a word to the manager always resulted in a cancelled bill.
The time spent waiting depends on the time of day, the size of your party and whether you want the smoking or non-smoking room. All in all, they have a very efficient system for seating.
By the way, CB's are always loaded with blacks. If they were being discriminated against, the word would have gone out long age and blacks wouldn't show up. They like that rural, down-home cookin' as much as we do.
Anyone who says that Waffle House has good food is smoking corn cobs. They probably have the worst, cheeziest and ill-prepared food of any chain in the country. Even their waffles are cheezy. Waffle House is exceeded in ghastliness only by the Olive Garden chain which is a national atrocity.
Leni
Sounds like a lot of it was lost on you.
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