Posted on 08/27/2013 7:04:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
After waiting patiently for two hours to be seated, a group of 25 black family members and friends were recently booted out in the rain from a Wild Wing Café in North Charleston, S.C., because a white customer felt threatened by their presence.
News of the incident, which is now spreading on social media, was first made public via a Facebook post on Aug. 22 after the company failed to respond to a complaint made on behalf of the offended customers three weeks ago.
"I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us," noted Mike London in the Facebook post. "This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT... PLEASE SHARE THIS POST We need your help," the post continued.
The post was quickly followed up with a telling photo of the group standing outdoors shielding themselves from the rain with umbrellas.
In an interview with WNEM about the incident last week, Michael Brown said the group was celebrating a going away party for his cousin when the shift manager of the restaurant approached them and told them that there was a "situation."
"She said there's a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we're sitting there peaceably for two hours," Brown told WNEM. "Obviously, if we were causing any conflict, we would have been ejected out of the place hours before," he noted.
He explained that during his conversation with the manager, a member of the celebrating party decided to record what was happening and the manager responded by refusing to seat them entirely.
"I asked her I want to be clear with you," said Brown. "I said so you're telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you're asking me to leave because you're upset because he was recording you, after we've waited for two hours, and after you've already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered 'yes.'"
Since the matter became public, however, the company has been facing public scorn and has responded to the incident a number of times.
"With regard to the ongoing discussion about a customer complaint, we at Wild Wing Cafe are completely aware of the fact that we dropped the ball in communicating swiftly to a loyal customer. We take full responsibility for our lapse in response time, had the opportunity to call back and have no excuses for not doing so in 3 weeks," noted the company in a post on their Facebook page on Aug. 24.
"We have never tolerated racism from our employees and won't tolerate it on our Page either. Our biggest concern has always been our customers and our staff. We have always insisted on hearing all sides to an issue and treating people with respect... and this time is no different," it continued.
In a follow-up post on Sunday, the company further noted that they are now conducting a thorough investigation into the incident while apologizing again.
"We are conducting a thorough investigation and are taking the appropriate action. In the meantime, we are in regular and productive conversation with the individuals and we hope to keep all involved fans and friends of WWC," the company noted.
"We realize these are topics that engender emotional reactions. We truly believe that actions speak louder than words and we hope all are open to let ours speak for us as we move through this situation. We are committed to not repeat the mistakes that have been made and to make sure anybody who walks in the doors of WWC is treated with love, respect and care," it said.
Bump the truth to the top.
Are you still a publican? Where?
Freaknik is one of the rare cases where Bill Campbell did something good for the city, by suppressing it.
Here's the other side of the story, and it is much more plausible than the story offered by the perpetually offended racists:
We also seated non-whites in other areas too They made this a racial issue before anything. One of the guests also insulted a deaf white girl because she didnt respond to one of them telling her to move (she was deaf and didnt hear them) They were also all standing in the middle of the walk way, making it difficult for customers to leave. We asked them if they could move over, but they said they can stand wherever they want, and if we wanted them out of the way then we should seat them. The customer that was offended was offended by a particular individuals constant uses of the word n*gger When asked to stop, he threw out a long string of racial epithets against one of my co-workers.
Abusing a white deaf girl? Those poor people! Do you still think these animals should be given free meals for five years? Good grief, you need to get out more often.
Please see post 213. The other side of the story has finally come out. We may be quick to judge here, but the bottom line is always the same. It’s unfortunate that it has to be that way, but whether you like it or not, people are judged by their actions....and their actions have been consistent....consistently bad.
That would be post 203.
Well, well.
Color me not surprised. I’m glad this employee spoke out.
Campbell had no choice. By '95, all the Midtown businesses closed for the weekend and people stayed inside their homes.
I expect the tax revenue hit is what really did it.
Forgot the link:
They should have been seated before other patrons. That was there number one error. Sure 25 seats are unusual, but my family recently went to IHOP and they accommodated us just fine and we had 17 with zero problem. This restaurant is a mess and I pray that the new owners are a member of this 25 person family. The treatment of these folks was nothing short of disgusting. I hope they have found a lawyer already.
I'm only going on what I read in the article and the comments, so this version of the story may or may not be accurate.
A situation like this would provide good training for prospective managers and franchise owners.
For some reason you labor under the delusion that all restaurant layouts are the same and that their experience at this place should mirror your experience at IHOP. In your world, it's ok to complain about "whitey" and abuse deaf children, while blocking the aisles, using the "n" word, and then hurling racial epithets at anyone who tries to manage them. Restaurants in this day and age, especially in a city like Charleston, discriminate against customers because they are black. Have you been living in a cave the past 50 years?
You are a sick person. Seek help.
The comments on this thread are completely unnecessary and full of racism. You go ahead and stick up for them because you will answer in another life. A sick person because I find it disgusting that people are making fun of people in a picture? Sure...
If the store was busy, a two hour wait for a group of 25 isn't all that bad. For cripes sake, there are groups of four that wait 90 minutes just to eat at a Cheesecake Factory.
Telling someone they can be accommodated is not the same as offering them a reservation - although that's not the word I would have chosen. My guess is that there is a lot more to the story, and that the store tried to manage the expectations of this large and "offended" group of people as best they could, but that they were having none of it and chose to try and intimidate their way to a faster seating.
Think about it, what upside could there possibly be in making a group of 25 large rude black people wait two hours to eat? Absolutely none. I have no doubts the manager was sweating bullets the entire time and the staff was begging him to do something/anything, to make them stop abusing the staff.
I would have thrown their sorry asses out the minute they began abusing other customers and the staff. I hope the company has the testicular fortitude necessary to stand up to these thugs.
The next time a black person refers to you as whitey, you be sure and apologize to them for your whiteness, and for your history of racism.
Good grief, dude, you sound like some guilt ridden liberal. I haven't read the entire thread, so I am unaware of anyone making "fun" of the people in the picture. I am, however, questioning your statements that are based on emotion rather than facts. Black people in a group of 25 do not get tossed from a restaurant in this day and age because they are black. The response by one employee makes that clear. The world in which you think you live went away a long, long time ago.
A typical “news” story where anyone not bleeding white guilt would know is BS.
How many times does the white guilt filled posters here on FR have to get beat up with reality to finally learn how things are today. It ain’t the 80s and 90s anymore guys.
This was laughable from the moment it hit the net. But I’m sure we will see more “thruthful” stories about “racism”.
Truth trumps ‘black appeasement syndrome’...again.
“Truth trumps black appeasement syndrome...again.”
Kind of. Sad to say but truth isn’t worth a dime anymore in New America.
Because these lies of white racism leak from the MSM everyday - you don’t want higher taxes RACIST, you don’t want Govt Healthcare RACIST, you cross the street when a group of blacks come your way RACIST - the Govt and the MSM have created a generation that hates people because of their light skin.
So although truth wins in this story, the damage done to society is the real winner. Evil is kicking ass these days.
I could have guessed you didn’t read the entire thread. It is obvious. You don’t need to be a liberal to know that making fun of people in a picture is wrong.
Agreed.
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