Congressman’s Restaurant Refused To Serve Muslim Couple
Last edited Fri Dec 7, 2012, 12:23 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: TPM
RYAN J. REILLY DECEMBER 4, 2012, 4:17 PM 5013
Mohammad Husain and his wife were looking for a bite to eat and a nice place to relax when they stopped in last month at a Shreveport, La. sandwich shop owned by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA).
But that visit soon turned turbulent, Husain told TPM recently, when he found himself locked out of the Subway franchise and his wife locked inside with an employee telling them they were not welcome there because they were Muslim.
I never have felt this kind of open discrimination, Husain said in an interview on Friday. Im sure theres people that do discriminate. They have their own prejudices. Thats human nature. But for somebody to openly at a public place to show that open hatred and openly discriminate upon a religion, I think this should not be allowed.
Neither Fleming nor his spokesman returned calls to the congressmans office or home. But a manager who runs several Subway franchises owned by Fleming told TPM he has video that proves Husain is wrong about what happened that day. The manager declined to make that public.
-snip-
Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/john_fleming_muslim_subway.php?ref=fpa
This OP has been updated:
Fleming: Muslim Couple Left Big Mess In My Restaurant
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014328955
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)NOLALady
(4,003 posts)will probably nominate him for President for 2016.
Sad, but true.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)will probably be THIS guy:
BainsBane
(53,034 posts)Brody and Nazir killed him.
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)The wack jobs will turn out in droves to vote this guy in again. Lot of haters in northern Louisiana.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Last edited Wed Dec 5, 2012, 01:15 AM - Edit history (1)
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Last edited Wed Dec 5, 2012, 02:47 AM - Edit history (1)
There was a line in THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YAYA SISTERHOOD describing the respective parts of the state as "the sin-hungry south and the atonement-hungry north", or something close to that.
question everything
(47,485 posts)at least, the "base" and the politicians take advantage of it.
When they are tying to think how to improve their reach, this point is always missing.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Louisiana re-elected Dave Vitter. Don't be naive.
southern_belle
(1,647 posts)Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)"Don't be naive." Lest ye become one OF them!
ltheghost
(37 posts)What is this!?!? 1950? How do you refuse to serve someone, but then lock the husband out and the wife in?
Response to Dont call me Shirley (Reply #1)
Post removed
Tunkamerica
(4,444 posts)mercuryblues
(14,532 posts)2 posts since his recent join date and one of them, this one.
this is the other:
http://election.democraticunderground.com/1014328254
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)Weird.
ck4829
(35,077 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)jeanlibny594283
(8 posts)allan01
(1,950 posts)yes , restraunt owners have the right to refuse service to anyone , BUT it better be a damn good one and not this petty , open and blatent discrimination. hope these folk do file suit .
marias23
(379 posts)I think the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in anything which is involved with interstate commerce. Restaurants, because their patrons come across state lines as well as their supplies qualify.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)lastlib
(23,239 posts)interstate commerce. Religion is one of the factors on which discrimination is banned.
jerseyjack
(1,361 posts)for the Supreme Court ruling that discrimination is illegal.
Katzenbach v McClung
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)Drunk, belligerance;
Screaming or otherwise disruptive children;
Even the fact that you've hated their guts since grade school.
There are plenty of perfectly valid reasons whereby a restraunteur can deny service. Which is why it is spelled out in the law that predjudice and bigotry ARE NOT valid reasons.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Completely wrong! The employee didn't tell them they were not welcome because they are Muslim ... the employee said, they were not welcome because they have darkish skin, dressed funny and spoke with a funny accent!
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)shit. That changes everything.
Iggo
(47,558 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)tblue
(16,350 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)intheflow
(28,476 posts)A Subway not owned by Fleming. When Subway HQ was contacted, they kicked it back down to Fleming who owns the franchise in question. So not really a Subway problem, it's a problem with this one franchise, and probably, one stupid, ignorant, racist fuck of an employee who's too inbred to understand discrimination is illegal.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)bitchkitty
(7,349 posts)You mean liable, not libel. And the franchisee is liable, not the corporation.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)She is an African-American woman who tells a somewhat different version of the events in question.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)as a pig, but entirely another to be caught in the broad daylight in the hog slop.
olddad56
(5,732 posts)gets caught violating the constitution. How did I know this happened in the south before I even read the post?
840high
(17,196 posts)whole story.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I'm a little disappointed in the responses to the OP. It seems most haven't read the whole story.
According to the whole article, there appears to be two sides to this story. Husain even went to a Subway down the street where there was no incident. I'll reserve judgment until I can see the tape for myself.
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)A potential lawsuit? BULLSHIT! Unless he's planning to drop a pointless and expensive defamation/slander lauwsuit on Hussein's head, releasing the video can only make any potential lawsuit AND Hussein go away. IF it is as the manager characterises.
Hussein called 911 in a State where he almost certainly knows, being Not White is considered a crime all in it's own right by far, far too many of Louisiana's "finest".
Although the articles doesn't state: I strongly suspect the officer who attended, told the Husseins what they would have to do, and how long it would take if they wanted to formally press charges. "Just take it on the chin and move on."
Normally I am one to ask for both sides to a story before making a decision, or at the least play a sometimes very unpopular devil's advocate, but when one party says: "I don't have to tell you my side, but he's wrong." I'll take that with a very large grain of salt, and provisionally assume they're a lying sack of shit.
hughee99
(16,113 posts)like when that teabagger left the truck-bomb in times square or the poor lady in Louisiana who got lit on fire by the KKK.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)n/t.
you're bigoted against Southerners.
dembotoz
(16,806 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Journeyman
(15,035 posts)and as the Council on American-Islamic Relations is not pressing the issue, and has as yet to file any allegations of wrongdoing by the police, I suspect the alternate view, that Mohammad Husain made himself unwelcome by his actions, may prove to be the case here.
At this time, however, there's too many conflicting stories, and each too incomplete, to draw any conclusions. Not that that will prove a deterrent, however.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)Journeyman
(15,035 posts)Likewise, the civil rights group also asked Subway corporate headquarters to investigate and demanded an apology from the company. The company referred the investigation to Flemings franchise and has so far offered no apology.
If CAIR felt Husain had standing, they'd have alleged by now that the officers did something wrong. And if Subway felt there were a valid need for an apology, I'm sure it would have been offered almost immediately.
I believe a full investigation will probably show Husain acted deplorably and tried to hide his own distasteful conduct behind a reprehensible allegation of discrimination.
All this said, I stand by my previous assertion that there just isn't enough known at this time to form an opinion, and that what is known is far too contradictory to draw any valid conclusions. But again, I'll repeat, this won't stop people on this board -- and elsewhere -- from making all sorts of judgments about something they neither know nor understand.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)We also know if anything was on the tape, we would have seen it.
Journeyman
(15,035 posts)Well, I grow bored with Husain's search for a guiltless sandwich, especially as he found one that afternoon a scant few blocks away, and in another branch of the very chain that supposedly treated him so foully.
You keep an eye on this and if anything more becomes known, be sure to let inform us all. For myself, I stand by my original suspicion.
Response to DonViejo (Original post)
maddogesq This message was self-deleted by its author.
Vattel
(9,289 posts)For all we know Husain is lying. Right now we just have contradicting stories.
The Stranger
(11,297 posts)Having someone report discrimination -- which everyone knows is widespread in Louisiana -- isn't "jumping to conclusions."
It is seeing that justice is done.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)You can't lock people in and not let them out.
bonniebgood
(943 posts)muntrv
(14,505 posts)Kablooie
(18,634 posts)It could be circumstances other then religious discrimination that caused the dispute.
The discrimination angle could have been cooked up to damage the place.
Or it could have been exactly as the article describes.
But you shouldn't believe everything you read right off the bat even if it sounds like it sticks it to a Republican.
The Stranger
(11,297 posts)If what they're saying isn't true, RELEASE THE VIDEO.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)I think all know what happened
the owners just do not want discrimination PR or lawsuit
heaven05
(18,124 posts)two more votes going to democrats in next election. Little by little, 'real' americans are going to prove to the haters, it just won't work. And yes, be careful on the immediate judgement of racism. I was burned a couple months ago with a woman claiming she was set on fire by racists. I was up in arms. Turned out she did it to herself. I ate crow.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I guess he's loyal.
Blasphemer
(3,261 posts)Even if the truth is somewhere in the middle, the reaction of everyone involved with the franchise is highly suspect. Inappropriate behavior that they can't name because of a potential future lawsuit (i.e. because they have to get their stories straight lest the employees contradict one another)? A tape unreleased due to obscured audio? I believe the Subway employees engaged in racial profiling and assumed he was up to no good. The claim that they explicitly told him that it was due to his religion may be an exaggeration but I'm inclined to believe discrimination was involved. I expect a quiet settlement.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)For what that is worth.
BainsBane
(53,034 posts)And we've got more Halal markets than anything else around here. The nearest market to my North is Halal, while the convenience store two blocks south is owned by Muslims. He's welcome up here in Minneapolis anytime.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)Maybe we should wait for a few more facts to come out about this story and not jump to conclusions.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)As more facts come out, hopefully more clarity will ensue.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)mentioned anywhere but on a TPM blog.
Could there be nothing to it?
Brother Buzz
(36,440 posts)That's about all I take away from this story beyond a bit of "he said, she said"
rightsideout
(978 posts)Yep, you noticed the "Christmas Music" playing loud in the background of the tape too.
And on Thanksgiving Eve for crying out loud! LOL. As Jon Stewart said this week, "Christmas is starting to consume other holidays. Halloween better watch out." Not his exact quote.
I guess that means playing the Christmas music loud the day before Thanksgiving. That being said, being the stereotype, labeling person I am (yep, I'm admitting it) the store manager and probably the owner and workers are conservative-intolerant-bible-thumpers going overboard on the Christmas music.
But I find their discrimination interesting because this customer probably dressed similar to one of the Three Wise Men. Maybe it freaked them out.
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)skip fox
(19,359 posts)One can always write somethng to the effect that if this proves to be true and Subway does nothing, he or she will neer buy another sub.
chazunit
(25 posts)at locally owned businesses. One of my favorites is Aladdin's here in Cedar Rapids IA. I am not of middle-eastern decent but much of the clientele is. They are always kind and welcoming to me and my party and the food is absolutely fantastic!
judesedit
(4,438 posts)Hit them in their pocketbooks. That seems to be all they understand.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)I have some distant cousins that OWN the major businesses in Vivian, which is close to Shreveport. They are all Church of Christ attendees, send their kids to Baylor University or Texas Christian University. So conventional they are no fun at all.
Louisiana is kinda like a fiefdom. Serf Cities.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,010 posts)Dey is jus rag heads.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)This manager is like Scott Brown. They can tell what you are just by looking.
What would Jesus look like in American casual attire?
Would he be turned away?
What is Jesus doing in a Subway anyway?