Group of 25 Black people waited two hours to get in a Wild Wing Cafe restaurant in North Charleston
This place has had MANY complaints of the same type since this happened in August of 2013. Who was it that created the chicken wing concept again?
Once again we are witnessing the true power of social media. You are hearing about this story because one man posted about his experience on Facebook at a Wild Wing Cafe in North Charleston, SC, where his friends and family suffered some “1960’s” style discrimination.
A group of 25 Black people waited two hours to get in a Wild Wing Cafe restaurant in North Charleston, South Carolina, only to be asked to leave almost immediately after entering the restaurant because a white customer felt �threatened� by their presence. One member of the group, Michael Brown, took his complaint to Facebook when the corporate office of the restaurant did not call him back after placing several calls.
Mr Brown says he was celebrating his cousin’s last day in Charleston last month at Wild Wing Cafe in North Charleston. He says after his party of 25 peacefully waited two hours for a (read the rest of the story by clicking “Next” above or below< table, the shift manager told them there was a “situation.”
She said “there’s a situation where one of our customers feels threatened by your party, so she asked us not to seat you in our section, which totally alarmed all of us because we’re sitting there peaceably for two hours,” explains Brown. “Obviously, if we were causing any conflict, we would have been ejected out of the place hours before.”
Brown says while he was talking to the shift manager, someone in his group began videotaping the conversation. Brown says that’s when the manager became upset and refused to seat them. “I asked her I want to be clear with you,” says Brown. “I said so you’re telling me I have to leave. She said I have a right to deny you service. I said so you’re asking me to leave because you’re upset because he was recording you after we’ve waited for two hours, and after you’ve already pretty much discriminated on us, and she answered yes.”
Brown told WNEM TV 5 news that several calls were made to the corporate office in Mt. Pleasant, but he says they did not receive a callback, so he posted about his experience on Facebook.
His Facebook post read, “I will never go to Wild wings cafe in N. Chs again! We (Party of 25 family and friends) waited for 2hrs, patiently and were refused service because another customer (White) felt threatened by us.
This type of racial discrimination is unacceptable and we have to put a STOP TO IT. The manager looked me dead in the face and said she was refusing us service because she had a right to and simply she felt like it. DO NOT SUPPORT THIS ESTABLISHMENT… PLEASE SHARE THIS POST… We need your help.”
Once his post went live and began to circulate around Facebook, he finally got a response from Wild Wings Cafe corporate office. ” We got alerted through social media, so we always encourage our customers to respond to us or to comment on our social media pages,” says Debra Stokes, the chief marketing officer for Wild Wing Cafe.
“We had a conversation,” says Stokes. “It was a really good conversation. He and many of his family and friends were there about a month ago, and they are regular customers of ours. So, they were having a going away party, and they just didn’t receive the experience that they have come to know and love.”
Brown says an apology was offered and a free meal for the entire group, but he says he’s not completely satisfied.
“We weren’t coming here for a free meal. When we came there that night, we were coming to patronize the business. This is not a situation where you can just give us a free meal and everything is ok because it’s deeper than that.” See an employee of Wild Wings’ different account of the events >HERE<
327 comments
MWhitman – with all do respect, you are part of the problem.Racism exists.If the party was causing a problem, they’d have been ejected long before.You weren’t there, but you are judging the situation based upon…?You’ve not met any member of the waiting party, but you’ve decided what their behavior must have been and judged them before knowing anything about them.Judging a person or person’s character before knowing the facts is prejudging.Yeah – that’s the origin of that word.You’re guilty..
They all should have went inside and made this statement “ALL WHITE RACIST PEOPLE IF YOUR AFRAID OF ME BECAUSE IM BLACK,PLEASE LEAVE”NO, for real its Very Sad!
All I can say is WOOOW ! In 2013 ?? REALLY ?? So ONE ignorant racist can have an establishment REFUSE service to a group of people because of their SKIN COLOR ?? Ok then, since they don’t want our (blacks) business, let’s take our GREEN money elsewhere !
Racism is truly a disease. The irrational fear some have at the sight of blacks gathered together should be diagnosable. It is a psychological issue from within the individual who has the irrational fear. Therefore, her sick ass should have been the one asked to leave.
We are only hearing one side of the story. Can’t pass judgement saying the white man is racist till you hear the other side. Heck, we don’t even know that the other person is white. It’s racist to assume he is white.
If you listen to some of the news shows they insist racism does not exist but they are not the targets of the racism so how would they know we as African Americans deal with it on a daily basis
In Charleston, SC there are a lot of these cases going on, I am happy that he took the initiative to publicly announce his situation . A lot of is just brush it off and keep moving because it is a part of our everyday life. Hopefully this makes other people aware that they too can get justice.#speakoutloudsourheard
I am a white woman, I feel the white person should have been ask to leave. I thinkwe are going backwards.
Wild Wing Cafe is a money-grubbing corporation and I don’t care who feels uncomfortable, WWC isn’t going to turn-away 25 paying (although probably non-tipping) customers because one person feels uncomfortable. I’m calling bullshit on this story.
This group needs to stage a formal boycott. We suffered this treatment at diner counters in the 60s. Young people must keep the pressure on the moral conscious of white America or suffer their at will indignation.
Bigots will now be the ones waiting to be seated. South Cowlina is swarming with them and they must support their Arian brethren. After a couple of weeks, the racist a-holes will forget all about this. (Heck, most of them are blaming President Obama for what Bush did.) Business will then plummet at Wild Wing Caf� and no one will ever have to wait to be seated again!
You folks take these people to court or do whatever you have to do, because this is unmitigated BS!!! I’m 48-years-old and white, and while it disturbs me to hear one of you say “Don’t go back to sleep, My People” I have to admit that this restaurant has set us back, ONCE AGAIN, when progress was finally starting to be made.When I was in my early 30’s, I visited a “Popeye’s Chicken” in Memphis, TN where I experienced my first racial discrimination of this very same kind. I waited in line like everyone else, but when my time came to step up and order, the girl at the counter called the person behind me up and waited on her, and on every “person of color” that walked in the door after that. Only after I was the last person to be waited on did she take my order. When I tried to object, I was simply ignored. It’s a terrible feeling and it makes you feel less than human. I’m grateful for the experience today though, because I can say that I’ve experienced racial discrimination, and I KNOW how it feels first hand.While this is a bad situation, please, don’t set us back to the 60’s with race riots and whatnot. Sue the hell out of these folks, because this action was illegal. That’s the reason that the laws are in place. And even while S.C can be a little backwater in regards to race relations, the laws should still hold up in a case like this. Take these bastards to the bank, but don’t blame the whole white race for this instance. I know that myself personally, as well as many others, are behind whatever action you take 100 percent!
Why was the shift manager not fired. How is it protocol to refuse service because a patron is nervous because of black faces. This isn’t the fifties or sixties. Why was the white patron not nervous about white patrons one of them may have been a serial killer mass murderer psychopath or serial rapist or bomber.
I would have refused to leave and made the manager call the police and explain to them why they were ejecting me and my party.
I wonder if a person of color could ask that same restaurant to deny a white person service because they felt threatened by their presence…and have that request granted???!!! Hells NO
Black people are going to stop going to Wild Wing Cafe? Sounds like it will be my kind of place.
Here it is, year 2013 and this is still going on in America. Shame, shame, shame!!!
That’s what you need to do to these businesses,expose them in the media internationally.hit them where it hurts,their wallets.funny how they never responded until it was exposed on social media.also very typical for them to offer a free meal,it’s actually insulting if you ask me.whoever that person was who complained ought to be banned for an amount of time and the manager fired.
This happens more than is being reported and I am glad you put this situation on fb. Now the owners want to talk because money is involved. We have so much power and don’t exercise it. The power of the dollar. Cudos for you and the group
Since they took it back to the 60’s let’s do the same. ……BOYCOT!
I don’t believe, the black people were sitting quietly for 2 hours, that’s bullshit, some whites came in, not a party of 25, and someone in the party of 25, said some shit to them!! Get Real it’s 2013, somone in that part said some shit!!! That’s why they were asked to leave!!
Nationwide there should be a boycott of this establishment. Not just from A frican Americans but from anyone who despises racism. Perhaps after they(the company) take the ass whuppin in the pocket, they will vhoose a better way of doing business.
This is a manager who will surely lose a job. 25 people ready to spend money at your restaurant and you ask them to leave? From the headline I assumed we were talking about 25 gangsters or something but this is merely a family out for dinner. The very best kind of crowd to have walk into your restaurant. The manager is stupid and we can’t let stupid people define our civilization.
@MWhiteman…. Had this families been unruly for two hours they would have been asked to leave long before. Since the White folks were uncomfortable, they should have gotten their pink asses up, paid their bill, and got the fuck on. Simple as that. So don’t make this about unruly Black folks when it really racist white folks. Get it right.
For all the white people out there saying that the black people were probably cursing and carrying on thats why the one white person felt offended is pure BS. Wild Wings Cafe has never really been a family oriented place where you can just go and be peaceful and have a serene time. Its a bar where white people go and get pissy drunk and act beligerent. I work at a hotel near a Wild Wings and thats all that happens there. Its a place to have fun and drink and watch games. South Carolina restaurants are known for this type of racial profiling. South Carolina is still full of racism and its sickening to see.
first, no apology could get me back to that restaurant. SHUT THEM DOWN. No one should ever eat there again. It won’t stop there. We just keep excepting this shit. No place for it in our generation. Step up and say no more
You’re only getting one side of story here. I work at the restaurant and your representation of the events is way off base. The group was being loud and obnoxious to both customers and staffers. They kept complaining about their long wait and were talking about how “whitey” was able to get seated, but they were not. The problem was that they had a large group and insisted on sitting next to each other. We only had one area that could accommodate their large group and the patrons in that area were not done. So yes, some “whities” were able to be seated before them, but only because they were going to a different area. We also seated non-whites in other areas too…They made this a racial issue before anything. One of the guests also insulted a deaf white girl because she didn’t respond to one of them telling her to move (she was deaf and didn’t hear them) They were also all standing in the middle of the walk way, making it difficult for customers to leave. We asked them if they could move over, but they said they can stand wherever they want, and if we wanted them out of the way then we should seat them. The customer that was offended was offended by a particular individual’s constant uses of the word “n*gger” When asked to stop, he threw out a long string of racial epithets against one of my co-workers.
This makes me incredibly sad. We still have a long way to go.
Damn, there’s still a lot of work to be done on race issues in this country…
Don’t know all the facts of the story, but at one point a video tape was introduced to validate some of this story for either side. But my comment is really for the racist ignorant people we have in this world. If you don’t like our kind, I am black then take your dumb asses somewhere else because since you are intelligent you do realize we are not going anywhere. Your comments and lack of intelligence will only hurt you and your kids. You will be teaching them a practice that when you are dead and gone will do them of no use. Most of you on here that keeps calling blacks or any other race racial names never do it to the person’s face. You are cowards and for all you christian’s GOD sees all and you will have to answer to him for your blatant disrespect of the bible and his ways. So to all my intelligent people, never let ignorance detour you from being the good person you are. There are bad people in every race, but who are we to judge. And to all you racial idiots, I pray you are never in trouble and a black person is the only one there to save you because I bet you will be begging for help, you fake social media thugs.
You mean to tell me that a crowd of 25 automatically constitutes a boisterous group? If the manager felt so inclined to ask them to leave because one customer said something, i guarantee you if they were behaving inappropriately the other people in the waiting area where they were for 2 HOURS would’ve already complained. Im reading the comments and whats funny to me is, there are only a few white ppl who are actually telling the racists ones up here with their fractured ideology about black ppl and saying nigger how f*ked they’re being but the majority are saying nothing! They would rather argue with anyone who is trying to be civil and point out the facts. I wish a group of drunk white kids would’ve come in right behind them and tore the place to shreds. Oh, i forgot, young white kids aren’t rowdy, they never do stupid shit(They’re the reason youtube was created lol)…..i guess i can assume that whenever i see a group of 25 or more white folks together that their either gonna have an orgy, they’re a flash mob, a hoedown is about to start, they’re about to erect a skate park or its the zombie apocalypse….yeah see how stupid that sounds?
Don’t just let it go like that. You have a class action suit and everyone of you must pursue it. It may be a long journey but you also are representing people everywhere. Let it be known that this simply will not be tolerated. The manager should be fired. A monetary settlement should also come from the corporate office and if not, a lawyer must handle. This type of behavior has got to stop. Keep putting Wild Wings on blast until your voice is heard and let them know you mean business! Frankly speaking Wild Wings food sucks!
The shift manager should be fired … not for discrimination, but stupidity.
Who kicks out a party of 25 people willing to spend money for that size party for 1 – one – person who has no reasonable basis for their complaint?
And luckychucky, i dont believe you for a second, the manager would’ve spoke up about that and other patrons would’ve corroborated that story. These young folks are speaking intelligently, why would they have even went this far if they had been making a scene like that? Show me your proof, they have theirs..
REPLYING TO: Anonymous Posted August 25, 2013 at 9:00 AM: ” I don�t believe, the black people were sitting quietly for 2 hours, that�s bullshit, some whites came in, not a party of 25, and someone in the party of 25, said some shit to them!! Get Real it�s 2013, somone in that part said some shit!!! That�s why they were asked to leave!! “Did you just not read the article or are you really that stupid? I’m assuming the latter since you can’t even type in complete sentences. It specifically says in the story that they were asked to leave AFTER one of the people in their group started videotaping the conversation. The person who said something was already seated! You’re right, it is 2013 and that means we shouldn’t have to hear or deal with this type of discrimination crap nowadays. It’s a damn shame, makes me embarrassed to say I live in this state.
…and the white customer couldn’t just leave instead? Good grief. I could see a reason for asking a whole group of people (no matter the color of their skin) to leave, if people were acting like they were on Jerry Springer, but the author said they were peacefully waiting to be served. Shame on the manager, for giving in to this one person. I was hoping that all this prejudice between white and blacks would die out with the older generation and we would be free to live in peace. This article heading is correct in that social media has true power. Unfortunately, sometimes social media is used to further polarize people, instead of bringing them together. My parents taught me to look at people by how they treated me and others, not by the color of their skin. And, for those who don’t know me, I’m a 50 year old white woman. (:
He used “peaceably”, “peacefully”, and “patiently” repeatedly. Methinks he doth protest too much. It’s hard to believe that a group of 25 of anybody waited “peaceably”, “peacefully”, or “patiently” for two hours, much less 25 young black people. Taking it with a grain of salt…
Why would management allow one to rule 25 why did she not tell the one person to leave if they had a problem ? You can’t fix this with free food it is deeper an the possibility of where this could have gone because management got angry what if the rolls were reverse?
Thank you LuckyChucky for the “rest of the story”…
As. a Retired,Combat,Disable,Veteran I fought in a war so that this establishment could have the right to refuse guest. However, I will NOT go to a place that still practice racism!
This place should be picketed every day until they are shut down or satisfied with whatever the company offers them.
this goes on all the time every time we say racistim they say oh no you all need to get over it , get over wat how you teach the same stupidity to you kids, and the next generation, is why it will never end until God interviens on our behave.
I am a white 28 year old Marinevliving in Chesapeake Va just 2 weeks ago I walked into a “black barber shop” sat there for over an hour while customers cam and went an I was never helped. When I complained all the barbers said “your in the wrong neighborhood”. All the black patrons laughed like it was the funniest thing they ever heard…..but I just walked away….ignorance is color blind!!!
What restaurant manager would do this, without documenting the fact or basis for doing so, based totally on the word of one customer? That is just incompetence. Without that evidence, of course this looks like blatant racism. Maybe they were being loud and obscene, maybe not, but without documenting the evidence of that, the controversy is well deserved. If I had to be an a-hole and judge based just on that picture of the group standing in the rain, they sure don’t look like a bunch of thugged up loudmouths, they look like JPF. (Just Plain Folks.) Post a sign in the restaurant: “Loud and obscene guests will be asked to leave. We will record instances to document our request. If you disagree with this policy, then eat somewhere else that doesn’t have this policy.” Send the ass’t manager to Radio Shack, spend the $35 necessary for the little recorder. If a group is being loud and obscene, record the evidence, then ask them to leave. You’re covered. Compare to this sad alternative: “A customer complained for whatever unknown reason. So we asked a group of 25 to leave.”
Alpha omega what proof are you talking about???? Where is the video tape, why are hey no showing it???
A free meal is not the answer. That’s very condescending and ignores the big issue sitting in the middle of the room. What will they do when the next white customer makes the same request? That worker should have been fired, an apology made, and a party given at ww expense. I’ll never eat there again because of this incident.
Racism is truly a disease. The irrational fear, repulsion or intolerance some people have at the sight of being around a person of another race or as in this example, “blacks gathered together”, should be diagnosable in the DSM. It is a psychological issue from within the individual who has the irrational fear. Therefore, her sick ass should have been the one asked to leave and referred to a therapist.
Sitting here read some dumbass comments mainly folks saying they probably would of been loud and annoying in a family restaurant. Really?!!!! It’s fucking wild wings cafe not ah family restaurant y’all white folks dumb as hell y’all loud as hell too screaming, yelling woohoo bro!!! Fuck y’all let someone tell me and my people I can’t sit down and eat and I didn’t do anything wrong ima tear that bitch up !!!!!!
@ Sofia and Monica: You coward crackers must think that someone must want to be around your funky asses. Bitch I would not spit in your mouth if you needed a drink of water to live. I am just as hateful as your asses, but with a twist, bitch: I will lay your asses out totally if you get in my way or disrespect me…How!
Lets see the recording.. Something is being left out !