Monday, August 24, 2015

"Laughing while black."

I swear sisters can't catch a break.

The narrative among those in the majority population is that they are angry. So when they try to get their wine on and bond a little bit among each other, said folks from the majority population get their hate on.

Anyway, here is a sad story from wine country:

"What started as a joyous ride through wine county Saturday afternoon turned into a “humiliating” experience for 11 African American women, who said they were booted off the Napa Valley Wine Train for laughing and talking too loud.

Accounts and pictures of the episode have been spreading across social media, spawning the hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack while the women involved have questioned whether they would have been treated differently if they were not African American.

“It was humiliating. I’m really offended to be quite honest,” said 47-year-old Lisa Johnson, who was among Saturday’s group. “I felt like it was a racist attack on us. I feel like we were being singled out.”                                                                                                                                          

The women have since been given a full refund by the train company, but continue to seek a public apology.

In a statement Sunday, Napa Valley Wine Train spokeswoman Kira Devitt said the company “received complaints from several parties in the same car and after three attempts from staff, requesting that the group keep the noise to an acceptable level, they were removed from the train and offered transportation back to the station in Napa.”

The incident began when Johnson and her book club, the Sisters on the Reading Edge, embarked around 11 a.m. for their annual trip through wine country — an adventure they had been planning since November.

Johnson, a self-described social media fanatic, posted pictures on Facebook, documenting the entire episode as it unfolded.

The women — all wearing matching T-shirts — were all seated in the same car in adjacent tables and seats, laughing and having a good time. They and the other passengers on the sold-out train were ordering tastings and glasses of wine as they rode the 18-mile stretch from Napa to St. Helena through California’s most famous and picturesque vineyards and wineries.

And while the group — which included an 83-year-old grandmother — may at times have been “rambunctious,” they were not “obnoxious or intoxicated,” Johnson said.

Several passengers, she said, even came up to them to take pictures, and asked about the romance novel they were reading for their club.

But a short while into their trip, Johnson said a manager on the train asked them to pipe it down.
“The train is set up to be with your friends, to drink wine and have a good time,” Johnson said. “We were thinking, ‘Who are we offending?’”

Later on, Johnson said the manager told them that “this isn’t going to work,” and that if they didn’t “tone it down,” they were going to be asked to get off the train.

“It was a bizarre thing for all of us,” she said, adding that many in the group quieted down and wondered what had happened.

According to Johnson, one of the women in the same car told the group “this isn’t a bar.”
“And we though, um, yes it is,” Johnson said.

What came next, she said, was the worst part of the afternoon. When the train pulled into the St. Helena station, the group had to do the “walk of shame” as they were escorted past passengers on the six other cars, Johnson said. At the station, the group was met by officers from the Napa Valley Railroad and St. Helena police departments.

“People were looking at us,” Johnson said. “To get escorted into the hands of waiting police officers. That’s the humiliating part.”

But Chief Jeff Hullquist of the Napa Valley Railroad Police Department said there “was no police action taken” at the station.

When someone is removed from a train, they have to be dropped off at a station, and our policy is if someone is let off the train we’ll stand by,” he said. “We keep them safe until someone can get them.”

“The Napa Valley Wine Train does not enjoy removing guests from our trains, but takes these things very seriously in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all of our guests,” Devitt said, adding that about once a month guests need to be removed from the train.

Johnson said despite their treatment on the ride, the company has worked with them. They were given a refund, provided with free pictures, and a van was sent to pick them up.

“The people in the station were absolutely wonderful,” she said, ready to let the incident go.

But that’s when someone from the company posted an account of the incident on Facebook. Johnson was miffed.

“Following verbal and physical abuse toward other guests and staff, it was necessary to get our police involved,” the since-deleted post reads in part, which Johnson captured in a screen grab and re-posted to Facebook. “Many groups come on board and celebrate. When those celebrations impact our other guests, we do intervene.”

The post was quickly taken down and the company reached out to the women to make amends, she said." [Source]

"Our police".

Anyway, I love how Jeff Hullquist says that they were just protecting grown women and keeping them "safe". What was going to happen? Were they going to get attacked by a mob of wine tasters?

Give me a break!

Accused of "verbal and physical abuse" simply for laughing together and having a good time.
Unbelievable.

I think I need a drink, but I promise you it won't be wine.

*Pic posted by Lisa Johnson in mercurynews.com.







62 comments:

dinthebeast said...

I met some folks who worked for the wine train back in the '90s when I did deliveries out of the duty-free zone on Pier 19 in SF. I remember thinking that they seemed like stuck up pricks who thought really highly of themselves. Maybe I was right?

-Doug in Oakland

Star said...

It's a shame that the group had to do the “walk of shame”

Anonymous said...

OMG! Field, Field, Field!

As I was reading and got to the part of the police waiting for them!
I got chills! Because what would have happened if they had actually been arrested and put in cells??? O,O You know what that means! You know the MO with that!!! OMG!

They escaped with their lives narrowly!!!

I'm telling you and them, stay away from the white, blue eyed ones...they no good!

I won't go, nope nuh uh, the h*** with that winey train ride! That's the train ride for browns and blacks to the Gestapo and gas chambers (euphimistically aka 'jail cells').

The only reason they didn't get put in the death cells is the social media thing. OMG!

Can't even have wine and laugh in America if you're brown and black!

All you're allowed to do without getting offed,is work,work,work!!!

Hmmmmmmmm......

Anonymous said...

hmmmmm...why that sounds just like...slav...hmmmm...wellI'll be darned! The more things change, the more they stay the same SMH!

PilotX said...

So basically the company's FB post was "you see how we do when these nigras get out of hand". I don't drink wine but I will never spend a dime on those assholes.

Anonymous said...

You know this is so sad as well as infuriating!

When you go to the link Field gives, you go to on one of their Facebook pages. And they were so happy to be going on that tour! They had made a little video as they were boarding, (if you to the FB go you can see it) and these are all professional women, an author, you can see they are great people out to have a little fun on that wine tour!

What a sad, humiliating and egregious ending to their fun day!!!

Yīshēng said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yīshēng said...

I LOVE wine, but luckily what I drink is imported from Italy.

NO Napa wine for me EVER!!!!

I'll bet that the ONLY reason one of them didn't end up in jail or dead is because there was an Attorney in the group.

Anonymous said...

The San Francisco 40whiners

Pete the Pill said...

They don't call it whine country for nothing.

Anonymous said...

Not really sure what to make of this. I wasn't there, so it's hard to know whose story to believe.

Maybe these women's fellow passengers were intolerant and/or bigoted, and the train's staff overreacted to complaints.

On the other hand, maybe these women really were drunker, and therefore ruder, than they realized and actually deserved to be chucked off the train. The women in the picture look nice enough, but ... let's be real, sometimes people do act obnoxiously. "People" does include black women.

Anonymous said...

@Lilac

Really? The cops were going to kill them, over allegedly acting disorderly on the wine train?! Kinda doubt it. The police were only called in case they refused to leave the train when asked. No one had actually accused these women of committing any crime.

It's one thing if you think this was inappropriate for the train crew to do this, but let's not get carried away here.

@Yisheng

You're going to boycott wine from an entire wine-growing region because of the behavior of the actions of this one train operator? If that's your general approach, you'll very quickly be unable to drink wine from anywhere. I'm sure that somewhere in Italy (and in every wine-growing region or country of the world) at some time, someone has acted like a racist dickhead.

Limpbaugh said...

I suspect that they were loud and the people who complained about it were racists. The winery might call security, that they refer to as their police, to stop people from driving drunk and to break up fights. It could be a procedure that they follow every time someone is asked to leave, whether it is needed or not. The saddest thing to me is that the outing that the ladies do ever year, and look forward to, was permanently ruined.

Anonymous said...

Frm the previous thread:

Anonymous said...
The link below shows 11 Black women who were kicked off the Napa Valley Wine train in CA.

As a bm let me say the truth: Negroes are just too damn loud, esp the sisters. This is ridiculous. Blacks can't even go on a lovely train ride through Napa Valley without fucking up everything. No wonder nobody wants to be around us.

What the hell is wrong with you ignorant unsophisticated Lilac-Yisheng-like sisters?

"Dear Brother Field, please post about these unruly out of control sick-ass sisters. I could see where one or two sisters would be loud, but ALL ELEVEN?

These women were so loud they had the police waiting on their stupid asses at the next stop. This is sooooo embarrassing for bw. As a bm this shit would have never happened.

And before Lilac or Yisheng say anything, let me say to them to just STFU."

I just wanted to put this 'out there' because you know, Negroes on FN tend to side with loudmouths. As a bm, I KNOW those women were loud. Negroes are always a bunch of loud-mouths. I can't even enjoy a movie without screaming loud talking bw talking through the entire damn movie. Field, you know what I am talking about because you have posted about this shit several times.

Now, they asked the sisters several times to please tone it down. Did they? NO they did not. I swear. Negroes just don't know how to act. And then they have the nerve to feel humiliated when they throw their black asses off the train.

I am very surprised at Lilac and Yisheng for acting like those 11 sisters were innocent. They were not and you two need own up to the truth.

Lilac, I know you know better. Yisheng is more ignorant and less sophisticated than those country sisters.

Anonymous said...

Btw, those sisters were from East Oakland. They were trouble before they even boarded the train.

Doug in Oakland know what I am talking about.

Anonymous said...

Brother Field, I noticed that there were no 'beige' colored sisters in that group. That is, not one sister the color of Lilac among them.

As a bm that makes me suspicious. Those sisters are probably prejudiced against high yellow sisters. That is a damn shame and very depressing.

depressed negro

field negro said...

"depreased negro" I think u might have some "colorism" issues.

No surprise here, I am riding with the story these women gave. Not the train company.

Thank u social media.

Yīshēng said...

I also thought the fact the women all appeared to be dark brown skinned played a role in how they were treated.
Throw in an Afro or two and the wimps on the train were probably scared to death before they even art their lips to sip their wine.

#wimpywhooteemoos

James Bold said...

"I am riding with the story these women gave. Not the train company."

Why on earth do you want to share a wine train with people who practice and expect restrained emotions, subdued voices, and watching the landscape go by while sipping various varietals?  If that's so boring, why don't you create a Sistahs Sauvignon, Shiraz and Syrah Sojourn?  It can be all Black and you can be as loud as you want.  If you don't like White society, do it your way!

I'm sure you'll have to pay a premum for damages and to have ambulances standing by at stations for the losers of the inevitable fights, but you will be free to be just as Black as you want on the SSSSS!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
@Lilac

"Really? The cops were going to kill them, over allegedly acting disorderly on the wine train?! Kinda doubt it. The police were only called in case they refused to leave the train when asked. No one had actually accused these women of committing any crime.

It's one thing if you think this was inappropriate for the train crew to do this, but let's not get carried away here."
---------------

Blacks get killed over a traffic ticket. They go to jail for getting a traffic ticket.

They get hung while in jail.

They get shot in the back by cops.

Many things strangely happen to Blacks.

So yes, "really". Evil things happen to innocent Blacks by Whites. That is no secret. It's been happening for centuries. Where the hell have you been?

You are definitely a White person in denial and furthermore, don't care whether a black person gets justice or dies.

Anonymous said...

At 80+ I am sick and tired of this racist crap. However, CA is a racist state. I don't think social media makes a difference in attitudes of racists at all.

The train company needs to fess up who was complaining. If those people can get people kicked off the train, then they should, in all fairness, have a right to face their accusers. But this is America, what's more, it's Napa Valley.

There should be a world wide boycott of Napa Valley and it's wines.

Anonymous said...

"Several passengers, she said, even came up to them to take pictures, and asked about the romance novel they were reading for their club."

Now see? Sisters can't even read a decent book. It had to be a romance novel that probably had sex in it. That is not good for the religious mind.

My God, what has happened to our bw? I remember the days when this crappy reading was not allowed. Folks only read 'wholesome' books.

Shabazz said...

I once got sentenced to 6 mos. for "verbal assault" , and oddly enough the complainant (s) were white. FYI this was in the south. These devils are as evil as they come, and will stick with each other to the death, no matter how depraved. That was just one incident among many living while Black in amerikkka. I got accosted and almost kidnapped once while walking while Black, and the kicker was this was outside of my job, also in the south! Needless to say, that was a fun-filled work experience! Thanks Pigs! I got stories like this for days, watch some crackkker on here accuse me of playing the "race card".

Anonymous said...

Niggers are annoying, especially when they imbibe alcohol and start keek-keek-keeking like chimpanzees.

Maybe they can take a tour of the malt liquor factory next time.
xD

Anonymous said...

@ Queen Shitstain-

People (real people, that is, not primitive hominids) are scared of blacks because they are so unpredictable. You say the wrong thing, even politely, and you're liable to get stabbed or slashed or worse. Blacks don't think about the consequences of their actions - they only know that someone is "disrespecting" them, and they ATTACK.

Plus blacks are just plain unpleasant to be around. The noise, the smell, etc.

#AWorldWithoutSheboons

#NowWeCanEnjoyOurWineInPeace

Anonymous said...

#AWorldWithoutCrackkers

#NowWeCanEnjoyOurCountryInPeace

Anonymous said...

And white apes stink. They smell like stale feet and old cigarettes.

#AWorldWithoutDownSyndrome

#WhiteCaveMonkeysSmellLikeZooAnimals

Anonymous said...

@ Anon 2:30-

A world without white inventions ...

Like that computer you're typing on.

Like that European language you speak.

Like that toilet you shit in everyday.

Like the electricity and water you rely on.


About time you head on over to Africa, Burrhead?

Anonymous said...

This is depressing. much much too depressing. There is no relief and no freedom.

depressed negro

Anonymous said...

@ depressed-

I have good news for you! There's a place out there JUST FOR YOU! A place where you won't be depressed, and you won't be kicked out for being too loud, either. It's a little place called .....

AFRICA!

What are you waiting for?

Anonymous said...

anon4:08pm, thank you for the tip. I'll look into it. I need to get out of here before the CCC starts the race war. I am so tired of this racist stuff that my depression is at an all-time low.

Btw, would you like to join me?

depressed negro

Anonymous said...

FN has the meanest hate-filled Whites in America. What more is there to say about them?

The sister waving the white confederate flag and noting that slavery was a choice Blacks made is indicative of where the black race is going.

Anonymous said...

This is interesting. I don't know if this is "racism" or if it is a clash of cultures. Or maybe classes. Would they have thrown out a group of loud White women with strong regional accents? Maybe. Probably happens all the time but of course it doesn't get any press. What would those women say on Facebook? The have no slogan to spout ... they could call the wine train "snobs" but there wouldn't be anything juicy in that. Racism is so much juicier and self-righteous.

Some Asians think Whites are loud and aggressive and rude, some Whites think the same of Blacks. One person's rights end where the other person's begin. It might have been a clash of culture; it might have been stereotyping "oh oh, I know what happens when blacks start getting loud ... it gets ugly, I have seen it ... I better report this ..."

There's a lot of misunderstanding over stupid shit in this country, people not being able to really read a person. Thinking someone's a snob when they're really not, thinking someone's a hood when they're really not. I don't know what to think of this incident except that 2 types of people had 2 different expectations of what kind of time they were going to have aboard this train ... one sipping wine, mellowing out and the other having a good laugh with a bunch of friends and family. They need to have a quiet car like they do on the commuter trains ... no cellphone, etc etc ... no loud talking, sip your wine and pass out. Then they need another car where you can let loose. I don't know. If this had been all White people, it wouldn't be an issue, they would have kicked them off the train and that would have been that. Race makes all the difference I guess.

Anonymous said...

You better believe race makes a difference.

I would then love for a group of loud laughing WHITE women that were ALSO thrown off that train to stand up and take a bow!

Ain't gon be none!

Anonymous said...

It was one middle aged white woman, (very bitter looking at that)who complained, there is a pic of her on the Facebook page.

But if she thinks her bitterness can be helped, soothed,or diminished by doing that, she has a lot of complaining to do my friend!

I feel sorry for that white woman, she's perennially sad and bitter! The sisters on the other hand are accomplished, auto-realized professionals with full and happy lives ahead of them! If they stay away from we all know who that is!

Anonymous said...

No, because with the White women it would be framed as a bad behavior issue so no one would care. Newspapers wouldn't pick up the story. It wouldn't be on Facebook. With the Black women it is a "racism" issue. Even if they were totally obnoxious it would always be a "racism" issue. Unless of course it was other Blacks that were complaining about them. Something like Blacks shooting Blacks doesn't make it with the media, its not a story people want to hear.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

@ Anon 2:30-

" A world without white inventions ...

Like that computer you're typing on.

Like that European language you speak.

Like that toilet you shit in everyday.

Like the electricity and water you rely on.


About time you head on over to Africa, Burrhead?"

No asshole, you mean a world without white thievery. You didn't "invent" shit, only stole.
BTW- I'll go back to Africa when you go back to europe, deal?

field negro said...


"I have good news for you! There's a place out there JUST FOR YOU! A place where you won't be depressed, and you won't be kicked out for being too loud, either. It's a little place called .....

AFRICA!

What are you waiting for?"

That is good news. I am just waiting on my first- class airfare. Traveling coach such a long way is a b*&%t.

Anonymous said...

@Lilac-

White women can be annoying, but they're still pleasant to be around - and pleasant to look at!

Can't say the same about the nappy-headed hos in the picture, tho.

:(

James Bold said...

"Can't even have wine and laugh in America if you're brown and black!"

Wine is a White invention.  Black people drinking wine is cultural appropriation (as is using a computer, driving an automobile, using running water, or living in a building made of steel, baked bricks or sawed lumber).  Those women from Oakland are Aunt Thomasinas!

Anonymous said...

Oh Field, so true that ignorance is bliss! Sooo true!

"Wine is a white invention"

Oh Lawd have mercy on his/her soul!!!

Ahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...


"White women can be annoying, but they're still pleasant to be around - and pleasant to look at!"

Please, they are the ugliest, flattest bitches on the planet. Keep deluding yourself into superiority honky....

Anonymous said...

...Not to mention....most of them stink, and their breath smells too.....YUCK

Also, your non-existent lips look like two lines drawn across your face....
Seeing veins and shit through your skin is highly attractive....not

I always said white women were made for white men. They have to have flat asses, otherwise, how would their men give them backshots?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I always said white women were made for white men. They have to have flat asses, otherwise, how would their men give them backshots?

11:46 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHOA!!! OMG That's cooold!

But true LOLOL!

Anonymous said...

They don't make Baby Duck.

Anonymous said...

Italians are some the most racist people on the planet. They hate blacks, so go ahead and keep giving them your money.

Anonymous said...

Of course you side with the 11 black women that were drunk. After all no black person anywhere at anytime has ever been in the wrong.

Anonymous said...

I'd be nervous if I was on a train with 11 drunk negros too. Throw in the fact that almost ALL interracial violence is black on white, I figure they had good reason to be nervous.


I bet $1000 that every white voter on that train is a registered Democrat and voted for Obama. They like blacks (usually) because they have never had the extreme displeasure of living around large numbers of black people.

Anonymous said...

Too bad the BLAK, not yet human,loudmouth AND stupid, loaded sprog droppers weren't shotgunned off of the train.
Gnome sane ?

Vinny said...

They were just keeping it real. Real loud.

Anonymous said...

I'm happy this situation took place amongst all them DWL types.

They get to see first hand what it's like dealing with the mud
monsters first hand. Let them get a taste of what they stick up
for on a daily basis, while living far, far away from the cancerous
element of the mud monsters !!

dem dang mud monsters are actin a fool again ya'll.

And as we all know it's not limited to just one area.

Errywhere da negro goes, society as we know it goes down with them.

Indisputable facts! Facts that the under-man can't handle,
which in turn, turns to racismmmmmmmmmmm, whatever that is.

Oh, we know what that is. It's like dealing with a 5 year old
child that doesn't understand the meaning of the word "no" !!!

This is the reason why sites like sbpdl.com exists !!!

Somebody explain to me, why does assimilation have to be forced
upon us, I mean if we really desired to be around the negro
wouldn't it just happen naturally ? Of course it wouldn't !!
Who really wants to be around the negro, ever ? NOBODY in
their sane mind, that's who. Yeah, yeah, take your racism
and shove it where the sun don't shine. It's called racial
differences. Just like males and females are different, so
are whites and blacks. Nobody had to teach me that, I found
out very much so for myself. It's called intelligence, get some !!!

Anonymous said...

I'm happy this situation took place amongst all them DWL types.

They get to see first hand what it's like dealing with the mud
monsters first hand. Let them get a taste of what they stick up
for on a daily basis, while living far, far away from the cancerous
element of the mud monsters !!

dem dang mud monsters are actin a fool again ya'll.

And as we all know it's not limited to just one area.

Errywhere da negro goes, society as we know it goes down with them.

Indisputable facts! Facts that the under-man can't handle,
which in turn, turns to racismmmmmmmmmmm, whatever that is.

Oh, we know what that is. It's like dealing with a 5 year old
child that doesn't understand the meaning of the word "no" !!!

This is the reason why sites like sbpdl.com exists !!!

Somebody explain to me, why does assimilation have to be forced
upon us, I mean if we really desired to be around the negro
wouldn't it just happen naturally ? Of course it wouldn't !!
Who really wants to be around the negro, ever ? NOBODY in
their sane mind, that's who. Yeah, yeah, take your racism
and shove it where the sun don't shine. It's called racial
differences. Just like males and females are different, so
are whites and blacks. Nobody had to teach me that, I found
out very much so for myself. It's called intelligence, get some !!!

Anonymous said...

"I think I need a drink, but I promise you it won't be wine."

Good, please don't drink wine.

It was never created by your folks anyways, so why
do you feel that you should have the right to enjoy
something you cannot invent or produce.

Ahhh, there is a flip side to EVERYTHING !!!

It's as clear as black and white.

Do you honestly think that this business wouldn't survive
if it wasn't for blacks enjoying some wine on a train ride ?

That's the part that's unbelievable to me !!!!!!!!!!!!

How about you black folks go and open up your own train ride,
then you and yours can drink and party your way right back to
that primitive mentality you negroes resort to so well.

Speaking of primitive. I look back 10 years ago at hurricane
kah-treeee-nah and think about what happened at the superdome.
A murder, a rape, committed by none other than the black plague
itself. YT was out helping fellow people and the black folks
were just sitting there, unable to help themselves and waiting
for someone else to help them instead. This is what negroes do.

A majority of them didn't help nobody else out, but themselves
by the way of looting. Whenever you leave the negro left to it's
own device, it automatically resorts to it's primitive mind state
that it seems it can never escape. LOL at the thought of YT keeping
ya'll down. Just another case of putting the blame on others.
It's easier to do. That word "accountability" must be too long
of a word, a YT made word, that's obviously racist, especially
when you try to hold the negro accountable to 1st world civilization
standards. You simply can't! They're not 1st world civilization
type folks. Why we're eating steak, they're still eating bush meat!

Anonymous said...

I swear if ya'll had brains you'd be even worse than
what you folks already are. Sweet Jeebus! Anytime you
give them the opportunity to resort back to their normal
device, they resort back to being in the jungle, as if
they ever left it.

Once again, you can take em out the jungle but you can't
take the jungle out of them. They're hardwired. It can't
be adjusted! When will humans understand this indisputable
fact ?

field negro said...

Anon above, ease up off the moonshine, it's causing you to ramble.

Anonymous said...

...That's what uneducated asshat hillbillies do, ramble.

Anonymous said...

These niggers should have summarily executed by the train tracks.

Either live by white rules or die.

Shabazz said...

FUCK YOU AND YOUR "WHITE RULES" LITTLE DICK HONKY

Go Pack Go said...

Blacks, as well as all minorities are just naturally loud. I try not to ride public transportation, but in the rare case when I am forced to, all I hear are loud ghetto blacks who won't shut up, Asians speaking in their annoying ching chong languages, and probably illegal Latinos blabbering in Spanish. Learn how to behave correctly on the bus, losers.

Anonymous said...

Go Pack Go said...

I try not to ride public transportation

loud ghetto blacks who won't shut up,

Asians speaking in their annoying ching chong languages,

illegal Latinos blabbering in Spanish.

Learn how to behave correctly on the bus, losers.

7:59
_________________

Get a car loser!
Or learn to speak Spanish and Chinese cause obviously you're outnumbered!

Anonymous said...

I know this is a long post, but please at least scroll down to the last paragraph where I ask everyone an honest question. I'll say up front that I'm white and I am trying to understand the level of outrage toward the company over this. I'm commenting on your blog b/c, while I find your view extreme, I think you're intelligent and thoughtful and that we want the same thing: peace. Please read this carefully (everyone) and really try to explain it to me (people with more than insults to give). White people need to understand, and the African-American community needs the white community to understand; nothing will get better if there is confusion and we're left guessing what the other side is thinking and feeling.

It was undoubtedly a humiliating experience for those women, and I wasn't there (and neither were any of you) to judge for myself how loud they really were. From the company's point of view, they had complaints from other passengers. No doubt that most if not all of the passengers who complained were white. Maybe their complaints were racist and they would not have complained if the group had been white; I can't deny that b/c I can't read their minds. So yes, the complaints could have had racist motivation...or not. The fact is, many talk about how uptight wine country tourists can be, but BEING UPTIGHT IS NOT THE SAME THING AS BEING RACIST. If you spend any time with those types of people (uptight white folks), you'll soon see that noise is one of the main things they're uptight about, regardless of race. I'm not saying they aren't racists in their hearts, but as someone immersed in the white world I believe any really loud group would've received complaints and have been kicked off for not lowering their voices.

So back to the company. They got several complaints from other people in the same train car. What should they have done? They could have moved the group to another train car (which would have been called racist, I'm sure) or moved the people who complained to another car if they had room elsewhere (although I bet those customers would loudly resent having to move when it was others who were being disruptive). The point is, some African-American cultures (and many other cultures, including white cultures) are louder/more boisterous than majority white culture. I agree that this train is a bar, but every bar comes with its own culture based on who runs it and who goes there, and there are different expectations. Not all places where people drink allow people to be loud, even if they are otherwise not harming anyone. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the women were repeatedly warned that they had to keep it down. They chose to believe they were being singled out and defy the warnings. So then the employees followed through on their warnings. Granted, it seems extreme that they called the police, and I'd want to know exactly what they meant in their statement that the women were verbally and physically abusive (just b/c they didn't do what they were told?). But making them get off the train? What else could they have done??

MY MAIN QUESTION: Do private places have the right to enforce certain rules of behavior (for example, kicking someone out of a bar if they are falling-down drunk or denying someone access to a restaurant b/c it is a dressy place and the person showed up in jeans)? Or do we have to tolerate anything short of illegal activity and not be able to expect certain standards (for example, quiet at a yoga studio or silence during a movie)?

Anonymous said...

so tired of people behaving like idiots then bringing their skin colour as an excuse for the consequences