I mean, I still don't get the tipping system, but yeah, I mean, the guy saved his business. It's like a do or die situation.
Could he have handled it in a more civilised manner? Probably.
Did he save his business tho? Yes he did.
The parts I have a problem with is only adding the 15% gratuity to the checks of the black patrons, and seating other groups first. That would qualify as illegal discrimination. However, much of the rest is not, because it affects everyone equally. And was probably necessary anyway, like raising prices and the dress code.
When I was a kid- night clubs often had rules like- “no white soled or athletic shoes...” “must wear collared shirt...” “pants must be worn at waist...” were these inherently discriminatory? No. White kids, black kids, Latino and Asian- we had a strong ethnic mix and many would dress a certain way and act a certain way. There were conduct rules- if you were disruptive you’d be escorted out. It wasn’t about race but about running a safe business- and even “minority” owned and pretty much exclusively minority frequented clubs had rules like this. In the 90’s- some clubs forbid gang colors and most clubs forbid sports wear like team logo gear. Not racist- they just knew many conflicts started that way and local gangs tended to also have teams the repped.
All that is fine. This guy- disgusts me. He could make a dress code without targeting in intention and language a certain group. He could raise prices and attempt to elevate his clientele without 1. Targeting a certain group, and 2. Limping an entire race into being considered poor. When poor white kids and poor black kids in America talk about growing up- you’ll find that many stereotypically “black” things are “poor” things- especially poor southern things. He had low class folks causing an issue but instead of seeing it as an issue of class he made it about race. And when t worked it only cemented his and likely others views that he was right to do it. He even says in the end he did the right thing. No. He did the wrong thing for the right reason (wanting to look out for his family)- he did the practical thing- the self serving thing.
Think of all the jobs that could be saved if we never let women or minorities have paid jobs? How many white athletes would still have jobs- how many more white kids would make it to pro sports if they didn’t have to compete? How many companies catering to one type of client went up from desegregation or how many folks lost it all when they set free their slaves? We didn’t do it because it was the best thing for non blacks bank accounts. We did THOSE THINGS BECAUSE THEY WERE RIGHT.
Push a man- put him on a mountain stranded without food and just his dog and his Wife- he’ll eat the dog and the wife or one of them will eat him- or they’ll all die. That’s a harsh reality and yeah- you can tell yourself that you did what you had to do to survive but if you come down that mountain patting yourself on the fu(king back saying you did the “right” thing you’re a piece of sh/t human being. You did what you had to- ain’t nothing right about putting another human low to save yourself. It’s understandable- most of us would fu(k someone else to save ourselves if the stakes were high enough- but it isn’t right and the fact you think it is tells me you’re a piece of sh/t.
I am, no falsehood- honored. I shouldn’t have been so harsh- but I honestly did get upset. I mean- there’s a layer of complexity to “soft” discrimination or what is often called “micro aggression” and that’s all about feelings and context and dialog- where any society has its “norms” and “standards” and dealing with those things common to other cultures can be sensitive because- well- it may be part of another culture to eat with hands but not here- so there’s this thing where obviously people will find it uncommon if you’re eating food by hand we don’t see that way- and it might be seen as inappropriate. If we know that 90% of Muslims wear something- and like maybe a small percent of anyone else does- and we ban that one thing... is that discrimination being hidden? Depends on motives- and that’s tough. So not ALWAYS- but at least sometimes. But that was too complex to get into.
But when you’re admitting that your intent was to discriminate but to do so in a way that you could disguise it legally- that’s just plain discrimination. The motive is established. I get it- there’s a supermarket where I grew up and it catered to a certain group- and even members of that group said the parking lot was a nightmare because many of the customers were 1st or 2nd gen immigrants from a culture without driving history and very different road laws. Not every member of that group was a bad driver- and not every bad driver in that lot was from that group. We generalize- it’s a survival skill, an instinct. That’s practical- but at some point we have to- as higher functioning humans- apply logic and actual thought to those instincts.
I’m on the fence. Like you, I remember bars in the 90s. My brother worked at one and by enacting a dress code they dramatically reduced the number of fights they had to deal with. It was blatantly tailored to low-income black men but it worked. In addition to that I occasionally listen to the Freakanomics podcast and a tidbit from their episode on tipping is that black people tip a lot less often than other demographics and the economist who did the study could not figure out why.
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I feel like this business owner felt he had to take action despite knowing it was not socially correct. He targeted a group and the outcome was positive whether or not that group was truly the root cause of the issue. I guess I don’t know how to feel about it overall.
I kinda get it.
Manners will get you a long way, no matter what situation
Could he have handled it in a more civilised manner? Probably.
Did he save his business tho? Yes he did.
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I feel like this business owner felt he had to take action despite knowing it was not socially correct. He targeted a group and the outcome was positive whether or not that group was truly the root cause of the issue. I guess I don’t know how to feel about it overall.