Black customers accuse Houston's Gaslamp bar of discriminatory cover charge; bar says 'no'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Black customers accuse Houston's Gaslamp bar of discriminatory cover charge; bar says 'no'

The bar claims the men were charged to keep a favorable female-to-male ratio inside

By Mike D. Smith and Craig Hlavaty

Updated 5:14 pm, Monday, September 14, 2015

Three black men say a popular Midtown bar charged cover charges only to non-white patrons and turned other minorities away under the guise of "dress code violations" Friday night.

An attorney representing the bar said that bar did not act in a discriminatory manner and always assesses covers for certain parts of the bar and reserves the right to turn away anyone who doesn't meet specific dress requirements.

Brandon Ball, Dan Scarbrough and Ken Piggee — all three attorneys — said that when they approached the doors of Gaslamp, at the corner of Brazos and Hadley streets, the doormen immediately told them that to enter, they had to pay $20.

Deciding against it, the trio went to a nearby bar and later walked by Gaslamp. "We're looking, and there are white people going in and getting their hands stamped," Ball said. "They were going in and not paying anything."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/article/Black-customers-accuse-GasLamp-of-disciminatory-6503980.php

[MrScorpio]

1. The bar was practicing the art of "Social Bleaching."

And yeah, I just made that phrase up.

[TexasProgresive]

2. You are a talented word smith!

[yeoman6987]

4. Many clubs only accept a look. In New York, if you are a

Geeky guy forget it. This has been going on for years. Why do you think many will have the "beautiful" friend go first and hope you can cross the velvet rope. I am not sure this will be a successful case.

[7962]

10. Man aint THAT the truth! Its happened for 40 yrs.

When I was younger, I always told my friends I would NOT wait in a damn line just to get in a club.
remember the Studio 54 days? That was the normal procedure. Pick & choose

[Recursion]

12. Sudhir Venkatesh coined it a few years ago

Nothing new under the Sun, I'm afraid.

http://www.amazon.com/Floating-City-Sociologist-Underground-Economy/dp/1594204160

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. The defense is as bad as the claim.

The bar claims the men were charged to keep a favorable female-to-male ratio inside

If that's true, it's sexual discrimination. If not, it seems to be racial discrimination.

Either way, a sucky practice by the bar.

[yeoman6987]

5. Yeah sucky alright but most popular bars use it.

[msongs]

6. female privilege nt

[MrBig]

8. It's crazy that their defense still admits discrimination

For this particular bar, I do think it was racial discrimination - they have a history of it.

I've heard at other bars, they practice racial discrimination in an attempt to get a certain racial mix within the club. In other words - if the bar on that particular night has a lot of PoC, they will "work the doors" to try and bring more white people in, and vice versa. Regardless, the whole thing reeks of racism

[Recursion]

13. Maybe but it's essentially universal for clubs to do that

That's why I stick with dive bars. Like, the ones where the "menu" is "<- whiskey beer ->" written in lipstick on the mirror behind the bar.

[Reter]

17. Somehow it's legal do discriminate against one sex

Many bars charge a cover for men only, and offer cheaper drinks for "ladies night."

[Travis_0004]

18. And that should be outlawed.

Cover for everybody, or cover for nobody. All sexes and races pay the same price.

[MrBig]

7. Check out their Yelp page

Even before this story went viral, there were repeated accusations of this type against this bar. I remember a short while ago, the same behavior was taking place at a lot of bars in the Washington Avenue area (big bar scene in Houston). A friend of mine was one of the victims who experienced this discrimination back then.

For such a diverse city (and for those of you not familiar with Houston, it is an extremely diverse city), it really saddens me to see this type of behavior still so prominent.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Shameful! They need to clean up their act, if they can manage it.

They are in the wrong business if they can't operate within the law.

[christx30]

11. Bars and clubs have been doing stuff like this

for decades. Ladies night, to attract men, who buy them over priced watered down drinks.
One of, like, 150 reasons I don't go out anymore.

[Snow Leopard]

14. Happened to me in Chicago

Me and and my group of whites got charged cover but I noticed none of the blacks were. I actually thought it was kind of funny. Their business, their call. Still had a great evening.

[Judi Lynn]

15. "My group of whites." How did you get them out of their parents' basements? n/t

[Snow Leopard]

16. Huh?

[Travis_0004]

19. Results of Jury Service

On Tue Sep 15, 2015, 10:25 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

"My group of whites." How did you get them out of their parents' basements? n/t
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1207505

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Just change to "group of blacks" and then make your decision whether to hide or leave.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Tue Sep 15, 2015, 10:35 AM, and the Jury voted 2-5 to LEAVE IT.

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