The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

For real? This post is a waste of time, but here it goes..

First the news…

(eurweb.com) Rose Rock plans to sue the establishment after claiming she was racially discriminated against when she was seated but ignored for more than a half hour at one of its South Carolina restaurants.

Mrs. Rock, who is from Georgetown, SC, said she and her 21-year-old daughter were the lone African Americans at the chain’s Murrells Inlet restaurant in April. She said when she asked the manager about the delay she was told they could have a free meal.

“He never called over the waitresses and asked, `Why did these people sit here for an hour without service?’” she said, according to AP. “The only thing he said was we could have a free meal and neither of us wanted to eat.” (more…)

Here was the restaurant’s response:

Wynne, vice president of corporate affairs for Cracker Barrel, said the incident remains under investigation.

“We made an honest mistake,” she said. “It was not a discrimination issue; it was a service issue.”

Wynne said Rock was a regular customer at the Murrells Inlet restaurant before May 16, when the incident at issue occurred.

Rock visited the restaurant around 4:30 p.m., during the shift change, Wynne said. By mistake, Rock’s table was not assigned a server, she said. The restaurant manager offered Rock a free meal and Rock also received a gift package from Cracker Barrel, Wynne said.

“We followed up with an apology letter and a food basket. Cracker Barrel does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.” (more…)

HOLD UP! WAIT A MINUTE!! This is a classic example of how some Black folks can use a serious claim like racism to cash in. The article says that she had been a regular at that particular restaurant up until this incident. If this was a case of racism, don’t you think she would have noticed it BEFORE this particular day? What? All of a sudden they Cracker Barrel decided to have a “ignore black customers’ day? Not according to this gentleman.

Jeff Jensen showed up at the news conference and says he was there the same day as Rose Rock and saw the exchange between Rock and the manager. He says other people in the restaurant that day were also overlooked.

“I’ve had to wait myself sometimes due to the fact it may be raining, or a flux of people came in around lunch time,” said Jensen. “Sometimes I’ve left and gone to K and W.” (more…)

“Flex your power!!”

This is a phrase that often appears on the top of my power bill suggesting that as customers, we have the power to conserve energy. People like Rose Rock are doing the same thing: flexing their power of guilt over white people. Ms. Rock knows good and doggone well that if racism did exist at this restaurant, she would have saw signs of it on her earlier visits. Bad service does not always equal racism.

The restaurant offered to comp her meal, sent her a gift basket and a letter of apology. This still was not enough. This is exactly why I have been saying for years that if you were to talk to twenty different people who are pro-reparations, you will get AT LEAST twenty different responses when you ask them to define what it is they want.

The sad thing about all of this is that it is folks like Ms. Rock that help bury the real claims of racism that take place in this country.