Post by Blaque on Mar 24, 2007 6:27:02 GMT -5
Welcome to Williamsburg, Va.
I wasn't surprised by this at all.
Some black customers feel they were unfairly turned away from a Williamsburg IHOP this month.
All Kristie Ross really wanted was an omelet.
But when the 21-year-old arrived at the International House of Pancakes on Richmond Road with her cousin just before 2 a.m. on March 10, what she got was rejection.
Ross said a manager told her she was banned from the restaurant, even though she'd never been there before.
"She said 'You people don't know how to act,'" Ross said. "I said, 'Who is you people?'"
Ross thinks the restaurant discriminated against her because she is black.
While she waited to get the chain's phone number to call and complain, she said she saw as many as 40 other black customers turned away, while at least three groups of white patrons were allowed in.
Georgia Owen, the night manager who made the decision to turn people away, referred questions
about the incident to the pancake chain's national spokesman.
Patrick Lenow, IHOP's director of communications, said restaurant employees only denied service to specific people whom "eyewitnesses" told them were being disruptive at another local business or had caused problems at IHOP the previous week.
He said the staff asked anyone who appeared to be associated with any of those people to leave.
"We just asked the entire group not to dine with us," he said.
Lenow did not know exactly how many customers were turned away.
He declined to say who the eyewitnesses were, and said the restaurant remained open to other guests of all races during the time the group was being refused.
Maj. Jay Sexton of the Williamsburg Police Department, who had several officers stationed at the IHOP that night after a fight at the nearby Library Tavern, said the restaurant began refusing customers after a throng of between 70 and 75 people - predominantly black - showed up between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.
"A lot of them were being very rowdy, cussing," Sexton said.
As one of the few 24-hour restaurants in Williamsburg, IHOP often gets busy on weekends after local bars begin to close.
Sexton said police have had problems at the restaurant in the past, with late-night customers being drunk or disorderly.
Ross said the behavior of some should not be a reason to deny service to other black customers.
"It's discrimination in the worst way when you say you can't be seated because you don't know how to act," she said. "You can't judge me because this person or that person starts trouble. You can't judge every black person because of one."
Ross, who is from West Point, and her cousin Sheena Washington, who is from King William County, said they were not being loud or disorderly at any point that night and rarely even go out in the Williamsburg area.
They said they had been at the Library Tavern earlier in the evening, but did not know any of the people who had been involved in the fight.
"I was not walking in with a large group of people," Ross said.
Alex Meekins of Williamsburg, who was also refused service, said police responded and were in control of the situation at the Library Tavern.
"The people at the Library that were already fighting were nowhere to be seen at the IHOP," he said.
Meekins said he had not been involved in the trouble at the Library, and hadn't eaten at the IHOP for about three months.
As for Ross, she eventually got her omelet at another IHOP restaurant on Rochambeau Drive -but still called the next day to complain about how she was treated.
About five days and another call later, someone called her back.
Ross said an IHOP representative apologized for what had happened and offered her free meals at the chain, which she declined.
"We accepted his apology, but at the same time ... there's a lot of people that were hurt by this," she said.
Ross has also contacted the King William County chapter of the NAACP and is collecting statements from people who were turned away.
James Mickens, president of the chapter, said that information would be forwarded to the statewide chapter in Richmond for a possible investigation.
I wasn't surprised by this at all.
Some black customers feel they were unfairly turned away from a Williamsburg IHOP this month.
All Kristie Ross really wanted was an omelet.
But when the 21-year-old arrived at the International House of Pancakes on Richmond Road with her cousin just before 2 a.m. on March 10, what she got was rejection.
Ross said a manager told her she was banned from the restaurant, even though she'd never been there before.
"She said 'You people don't know how to act,'" Ross said. "I said, 'Who is you people?'"
Ross thinks the restaurant discriminated against her because she is black.
While she waited to get the chain's phone number to call and complain, she said she saw as many as 40 other black customers turned away, while at least three groups of white patrons were allowed in.
Georgia Owen, the night manager who made the decision to turn people away, referred questions
about the incident to the pancake chain's national spokesman.
Patrick Lenow, IHOP's director of communications, said restaurant employees only denied service to specific people whom "eyewitnesses" told them were being disruptive at another local business or had caused problems at IHOP the previous week.
He said the staff asked anyone who appeared to be associated with any of those people to leave.
"We just asked the entire group not to dine with us," he said.
Lenow did not know exactly how many customers were turned away.
He declined to say who the eyewitnesses were, and said the restaurant remained open to other guests of all races during the time the group was being refused.
Maj. Jay Sexton of the Williamsburg Police Department, who had several officers stationed at the IHOP that night after a fight at the nearby Library Tavern, said the restaurant began refusing customers after a throng of between 70 and 75 people - predominantly black - showed up between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.
"A lot of them were being very rowdy, cussing," Sexton said.
As one of the few 24-hour restaurants in Williamsburg, IHOP often gets busy on weekends after local bars begin to close.
Sexton said police have had problems at the restaurant in the past, with late-night customers being drunk or disorderly.
Ross said the behavior of some should not be a reason to deny service to other black customers.
"It's discrimination in the worst way when you say you can't be seated because you don't know how to act," she said. "You can't judge me because this person or that person starts trouble. You can't judge every black person because of one."
Ross, who is from West Point, and her cousin Sheena Washington, who is from King William County, said they were not being loud or disorderly at any point that night and rarely even go out in the Williamsburg area.
They said they had been at the Library Tavern earlier in the evening, but did not know any of the people who had been involved in the fight.
"I was not walking in with a large group of people," Ross said.
Alex Meekins of Williamsburg, who was also refused service, said police responded and were in control of the situation at the Library Tavern.
"The people at the Library that were already fighting were nowhere to be seen at the IHOP," he said.
Meekins said he had not been involved in the trouble at the Library, and hadn't eaten at the IHOP for about three months.
As for Ross, she eventually got her omelet at another IHOP restaurant on Rochambeau Drive -but still called the next day to complain about how she was treated.
About five days and another call later, someone called her back.
Ross said an IHOP representative apologized for what had happened and offered her free meals at the chain, which she declined.
"We accepted his apology, but at the same time ... there's a lot of people that were hurt by this," she said.
Ross has also contacted the King William County chapter of the NAACP and is collecting statements from people who were turned away.
James Mickens, president of the chapter, said that information would be forwarded to the statewide chapter in Richmond for a possible investigation.