Lawsuits allege discrimination at black biker fest

CNN ^ | May 21, 2003 | CNN

[milan]

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- The NAACP claims in two lawsuits that Myrtle Beach authorities and a hotel discriminate against blacks during a biker rally held each Memorial Day weekend along the South Carolina coast.

The group said it also was filing a complaint with the state's Human Affairs Commission, alleging more than two dozen restaurants in the Myrtle Beach area closed last year to avoid serving blacks.

[milan]

My wife had a huge observation that wasn't apparent to me about this situation. She thinks that the businesses in South Carolina are getting even with the NAACP and blacks for boycotting their state over the flag. "You want to boycott us...we'll help you out. We will shut down the businesses."

It really made me wonder when my wife brought this up.

I always love starting "race" threads on FR, they seem to really bring out the "best" in people.

[Chad Fairbanks]

You always love to start 'Race Threads' because they bring out the best in people? Wow, and you havn't even been hee a month yet... Your stay should prove to be interesting...

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Maybe they didn't want to serve bikers, period? It says they closed for 2 weeks. It didn't say it was a black biker convention, just a biker convention.

So I think, these restaurants didn't want to have bikers there period.

Maybe the National Assn for the Advancement of Biker People has a case, but not the NAACP.

[milan]

I have lurked much longer than a month.

I find that Jesus, evolution, and anything to do with race (however abstract or mundane that it may be) really makes a thread colorful. These are definately some hot topics.

[milan]

It is a black biker rally. Period. Takes place every year for the past couple years. And I do agree, I didn't think it was racist, it may be from previous experience with tens of thousands of bikers and the damage that may have been caused. But, I really think my wife may have a point.

[FreePaul]

Let's see. A racisist organization, the NAACP, is upset because another racist organization, the Black Bikers or whatever, are being discriminated against because of their race. It's interesting to see the racist's actively opposing racism as practiced by others. Interesting but convoluted. Sort of like the KKK complaining that they weren't welcome in Harlem.

[FreePaul]

There is an annual riot rally held in and around Galveston by some black fraternity. There has been a lot of criticism because merchants, restaurants and the like, closed on that weekend. The reason for closing was that they couldn't afford the clientele that this event brought to town. Many refused to pay for service, skipped checks in restaurants, stole anything not tied down, performed sex acts in public and generally misbehaved and the police were useless. Can't blame the businesses for protecting themselves.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

If I were a restaurant owner I'd close for 2 weeks every time any bikers came through, but that's just me.

The NAACP doesn't have a leg to stand on, especially with SCOTUS as it is now. 5 conservatives, 4 liberals.

They're just doing this for publicity and they're desperately grasping at straws or trying to strong arm the restaurant owners into giving them cash to not go to court, like Jesse and Al always do.

[DeFault User]

The story omits several pertinent facts. Here is an excerpt from a related article in the Charlotte Observer:

A city spokesman says 200 officers are on duty for Harley week, 400 during black Bikefest, but the reasons have nothing to do with the ethnicity of participants.

"It makes it sound like we've done all of this because of the race of the visitors, which is nothing but absurd," said city spokesman Mark Kruea. "The action that the city takes has to do with the traffic congestion and the number of people."

Kruea says Harley week, which drew about 250,000 earlier in May, is a 10-day festival spread over most of the 60-mile Grand Strand. Bikefest is a three-day event that draws more people and is concentrated in the 13 miles from Myrtle Beach to Atlantic Beach.

The other suit alleges that the Yachtsman Hotel in Myrtle Beach charges higher rates and toughens its rules for visitors in hotel rooms during the black biker festival.

"We vehemently deny the allegations, and we have implemented no policies and will not ever discriminate based on race, age, sex. ... We treat everyone equally," said Craig Young, an attorney for the hotel.

In a complaint to the state Human Affairs Commission, the NAACP also alleges that more than 28 Myrtle Beach area restaurants closed last Memorial Day weekend so they would not have to serve blacks.

Jean Cribb, who owns Chesapeake House, which is on the gridlocked Kings Highway, is angry her restaurant is part of the complaint. She said they were closed because traffic was so heavy her employees couldn't get to work.

"It is not a black and white thing at all with us," she said. "It makes me mad that it looks like we're totally being unfair to black bikers." The restaurant stayed open this weekend.

[Mark17]

They're just doing this for publicity and they're desperately grasping at straws or trying to strong arm the restaurant owners into giving them cash to not go to court, like Jesse and Al always do.

Maybe it's another Jesse Jackson shake down.

[DeFault User]

I should have posted a link to the entire article in the Charlotte Observer.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/5945902.htm

[JoeSixPack1]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/917584/posts

We do have a Motorcycle Hooligan ping list, to activate said list throw darts at martin_fierro. :-)

[cabbieguy]

A "Black Biker Fest", I've got a black bike and I wasn't even invited.

[milan]

The story omits several pertinent facts.

I found it on CNN, what do you expect?

[babaloo999]

Those are almost as much fun as the WOD and Civil War War of Northern Aggression the North/South threads.

[DeFault User]

With CNN, that's a given. Surprising was the more complete story in the Charlotte Observer, our Knight-Ridder liberal fishwrap. (The editors may have been hung-over from the race Sunday.)

[Re-electNobody]

Why isn't the NAACP lambasting the bikers for not observing the statewide boycott? Surely the black bikers' group know that they are not supposed to be having events in the state. Looks like the NAACP, instead of helping them sue, would be bringing pressure on the bikers to have their get-togethers elsewhere. Obviously the boycott is bombing bigtime when even blacks are not observing it.

[JimRed]

Over here at the New Jersey Shore there was a loosely organized event called "Greekfest". It consisted of a visit to a beach town, Belmar, by a large number of Black fraternity and sorority members after a day-long picnic in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.

Years ago, there were few problems; they were mostly good kids and the few incidents were minor. Most of us locals never even anticipated which Sunday it would fall on.

I was running the boardwalk regularly then, and several times over the years found myself passing through the crowd. Never any hostility, a few "hey, lookin' good"s and an occasional "check out those buns" from one of the sisters. Makes a middle aged dude grin, by the way!

Six or seven years ago, the word apparently got out to north Jersey's inner cities that there was a party in Belmar, and things went all to hell quickly. Misbehavior escalated, police presence was beefed up, some businesses closed for the day, etc.

Too bad for the nice kids who will be solid citizens. But lay the blame on behavior of the (not so) few.

[vaudine]

We arrived in Myrtle Beach Sat. 17 May at the ending weekend of Harley Davidson biker week. The traffic congestion was full of bikers, as were restaurants. They were overall a pretty good bunch and included a small number of black bikers.

Local restaurant workers advised us we did not want to be there the next weekend for black biker's week. The word was that while the overall crowd was okay, there was a large number with major attitude problems. We had booked for Sat. to Sat.,but left Thursday when the rest of our conference left. The streets were already filling up with black bikers.

Some of the complaints we heard first hand were that steaks were invariably returned to the kitchen as not acceptable, that in a huge crowded buffet,checks would be refused as the food not being fit to eat,after the people ate huge amts. Also skipping out without paying.The claim was that they lost money. Several waitresses said the men would come on to them and make their girl friends mad. Then the girl friends would threaten to jump the waitresses. The worst claim was that police had to be called because a group went into a closed off party room, took off their clothes and started making out--this was in a family type restaurant, not a saloon.

We just didn't need the noise and congestion, and two groups of bikers back to back is a bit much. While the Harleys had a deep roar and were loud, most of the black bikers (all I saw) rode Japanese bikes which have a high pitched sound that is worse on the nerves than the Harley. Sounded like swarms of angry bees.

A question for all of you: If you are a business and have experienced hassle and loss of money in the past, is it wrong or against the law to close for a week's vacation to avoid it? Very few closed. Most had signs that said welcome bikers just as they did for Harley week. The hotels required a major credit card and over age 25 to book (all the time, not just for bikers) which weeded out a lot of the troublemakers.

vaudine