Study Finds Racism in New Orleans' Bars

Allow me to paraphrase the article for those of you that don't want to bother with the link. An African-American male was killed by white bouncers and subsequently the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center conducted a survey of 28 New Orleans bars. It paired black and white males of similar dress and body type and sent them into bars at roughly the same time. The following statistics were proffered.

11 of the bars charged blacks more for drinks
3 of the bars informed blacks exclusively of a drink minimum
2 of the bars required a dress code exclusively for blacks

These statistics are not overwhelmingly discriminatory but they are discriminatory nonetheless. There are a few point of views that I would like you to consider before answering the questions.
1 - the black male being unfairly stereotyped
2 - the black male who fits the stereotype
3 - The business owner and the risks he/she faces

I have to been to many bars and clubs in my life. The bars and clubs that I have been to, have been as diversified as any heterosexual male could possible expect, mostly white, mostly black, mostly Latino, mixed, Japanese, etc. You name it, I have probably been there. At almost all primarily black clubs, there is a dress code or a punitive cover charge so large that if you don't meet the dress code you probably wouldn't want to come in or couldn't afford to. From experience, fights in bars and clubs are equal among all races, but in the black clubs that I have been to, the fight has the capability of spreading and escalating. The violence in the black community is either extremely high or just misrepresented in the media. A week does not go by when a dead body is found in the black community of my city. A few months back I watched the local media report that a riot had broken out at a Martin Luther King Jr. parade, when I saw it on TV it was more like a big brawl but it was ironic and depressing to say the least. I would like to see a survey done that reported on violence by black and white people when intoxicated as counterweight to this survey. There are so many dynamics at work here that one survey does not seem adequate enough to make a fair decision. The only thing I can go off of is my own experiences. This is a conundrum of sorts, for example, if I am driving in a black neighborhood and I go to the store, gas station, supermarket, what have you, and I lock my car doors, but I don't do that in white neighborhoods, I am stereotyping black people as thieves, but if I don't lock my door and my car gets stolen from the black neighborhood then I am a dumb white sucker. Before responding, understand that the murder of the black college student was provoked by the bouncers. Try not use that instance as the benchmark for your responses. Feel free to include any other examples or empirical evidence.

Questions for debate:
1. Is the stereotypical behavior that the business owners are using to make their decisions widespread enough in the black community to justify their actions?

2. Does Hip-Hop music feed the fear of the business owner?
Example artists would be Li'l' Jon and/or Bonecrusher

3. If you owned a bar or club what would you do? or
3a. At what point does discrimination end and making a good business decision begin?

1. No. This is a settled issue. Business owners are not permitted to discriminate against a customer based on their race. A dress code is one thing, but charging a white customer $7.50 for a Long Island Iced Tea and a black customer $9 for the same-overpriced drink is racism in action.

2. What does hip-hop music have to do with anything? Here in my city some nut with a gun went on stage, opened fire and killed the former guitarist for the heavy metal band, Pantera. Should bar owners only play New Age or Barbara Streisand ballads in their clubs so nobody gets too hyped up by agressive music?

3. If I owned a bar or club I would want to cultivate a good and safe environment for any customer of anyrace that wants to buy an overpriced drink. The only color I care about is how GREEN is their cash. A smart owner puts aside their petty prejudices to do what's best for their bottom line. I would prefer to believe that most whites would prefer to stay out of a business that discriminates against people based soley upon their race.

I would also prefer to hire special duty police officers or trained, professional security to ensure the safety of the patrons. Too often bouncers are hired because they're just big guys who don't mind manhandling people smaller than them.

3a. A good business decision is one not to engage in illegal racial discrimination. I don't accept lame rationalizations for it. If you own a bar and you don't want to attract a certain kind of clientele (say for example, 19-year old white boys who wear black Slipknot t-shirts, are heavily tattooed and just want to drink Jagermeister and mosh and stage dive all night long) then you can set restrictions or play music that doesn't appeal to that particular demographic.

A headbanger isn't going to hang out in a jazz niteclub. You don't walk into a KFC and expect to get a Quarter Pounder with cheese. Most guys don't cruise lesbian bars expecting to score.

That isn't discrimination. It's a business decision.