Maybe, sometime soon, people will stop calling the cops on black folks for every single damn thing if the proper repercussions are had.
This week, at least, one Orange Village, Ohio, restaurant manager was fired after several black sorority members accused the establishment of racial profiling after the cops were called to make sure they paid their bill, according to WKYC-TV.
The restaurant also tweeted about the manager’s apparent termination after a Twitter user suggested that the manager needed training, noting, “The manager involved no longer works for us because they mistreated a guest, which is inconsistent with our values.”
The actual incident unfolded last week when the unidentified manager called the police at about 8:30 p.m. on June 19, claiming that 40 guests were “worked up about the bill” and did not pay. The manager accused some of the members of the large party of using obscenities and being disrespectful.
However, the people being served were mostly members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and they had another story to tell, noting that service had been slow and the situation only got out of control when the police were called.
Chante Spencer, a soror who was at the event, insisted that the allegations that people were threatening to leave without paying were “totally not true,” adding that many in the group saw this as an example of racial profiling.
“Police were standing there to make sure everyone paid, which we felt was racial profiling,” she recalled.
Spencer said that four people were even asked to show their receipt before they could leave the restaurant.
“No one deserves to be treated that way. Nobody,” Spencer told WKYC-TV.
In the end, everyone paid for their bills properly, with no further action required from the police, who stayed to make sure everything was sorted out.
But some members of the group came back, launching protests about the treatment they had received at the restaurant. The incident even drew the attention of Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, who slammed the incident as racial profiling.
“It is a chilling reminder that no African American is exempt from the impact of racial profiling when a group of professional women, known for their service and advocacy, are victims,” she said in a press release. “As an African-American woman and a member of Delta Sigma Theta, I am appalled that this occurred in the district I represent and will not be silent.”