Discrimination On MLK Day, Yep it Happened.

"Businesses are primarily places of public accommodation. That means they are in business to accommodate the needs of the public. They actively invite and seek the patronage of the public and therefore are subject to the same anti-discrimination laws that protect workers seeking employment or promotion. Specifically, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination and guarantees all persons the right to 'full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion or national origin'."~https://www.everydayhealth.com/healthy-living/right-refuse-service-discrimination/

"Restaurants may implement neutral patron conduct rules, dress codes or other neutral admission policies that are equally applicable to all persons regardless of their race, color, sex, gender identity, disability or other protected characteristics. However, restaurants that have policies that adversely affect individuals based on specified protected classifications or that do not apply their policies equally risk significant exposure under civil rights laws."~https://www.calrest.org/customers/dos-and-donts-denying-service-and-enforcing-house-rules

Businesses that deal with the public do indeed have a duty to provide service to all people without discriminating amongst them. The Definition of Discrimination is "the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex." With that cited and said... I begin...

Yesterday, as I do often, I walked into Market Station Bar at the end of the evening. After arriving I asked the Bartender for a glass of Ice, as I do because they know I don't drink alcohol, and she even asked if I wanted cola instead. I accepted. She saw other folks offer to buy me a drink before and saw that I told them I would accept cola. The Bartender knows that I don't come in to spend money, but to watch sports and enjoy the comradery. The pool tables are free there, as is the shuffleboard, and a swinging washer dartboard-styled game.

There was a pool tournament starting yesterday and I wanted to see the players compete! So, as I watched the games, I cheered on great shots and draws, and I even clapped after games that I considered real nail-biters! Like I said.. Comradery! Later, though, I was back to having water. I was in the back pool-table room, as there are 3 tables involved in this tournament, and was watching another good match-up! I looked around as the room began to fill, and it should, and was a bit proud of the turnout of competitors. There was one female player, and one female watching. The rest were males. I thought about how cool it was that there was a female playing, and how there was room for future growth! And a second woman came in, asking the only female spectator for a cigarette. I had seen a Bartender "Bum" a cigarette from patrons, on more than one occasion, so this wasn't out of place. The first female offered her two, and said "take as many as you want babe, I don't even like these." She then offered her lighter. This back pool-table room allows smoking, as the front room does not, so folks come in to smoke and then head back to watch the front two tables. I'm not a smoker so I do pay attention to the amount of smoke being created around me.

Soon a male Bartender came into the room and walked around me, even asking me to move over so he could get by. I moved so he could get behind the small, non-stocked bar in this back room. He went straight to the to newest spectator woman, who was smoking her cigarette and watching the tournament. He leaned towards her and told here "You can't be in here if your not buying anything. You're gonna have to leave." He wasn't loud, but was assertive in his tone. Enough so that most everyone in the room heard him speaking. Most folks were talking low, the music was playing, and I heard him clear. But, to me, I felt that what happened was not right. Was she discriminated against? How was she the only objective in the room? Was it because she was the only African-American in the room? Did that make her more-noticeable? How many times, when I thought about it, had that particular Bartender seen me sitting drinking absolutely nothing? Why not bring her the solution, which was a glass of ice-water? Why didn't Lontondra Banks receive the treatment and respect that I had received? What the hell just happened here?

Testing my thoughts, I left the bar and handed my empty glass to a Bartender and walked out. She asked if I would be back, and I said "Yes, in a bit." I came back about 15 minutes later and didn't ask for a glass of anything. I went back to that same room, and even back into the other room to watch those games. And.... nothing. I was never approached about not having a drink, nor about not spending money.

I believe, today, that she was indeed discriminated against. It just so happened that I saw her at a place that I go to often. Christus Our Daily Bread, a non-profit ministry in Galveston-Texas, is a place that feeds and helps folks that are homeless and hungry. Upon seeing her, I went to the table that she was sitting at, asked her what her name was, & confirmed that it was indeed her. She then asked me if I was there to help her sign-up for housing. I asked here if she was homeless. Tilting here head down, seemingly ashamed, she said "Yes, I am."

I told her that I wasn't with the Housing Department. But, that I wanted to tell her that I was sorry that she was treated unequally to me last night. It took a bit for her to recognize me because I was just another person in a room. I told her that Martin Luther King Jr. stood for EVERY Race, Sex, & Religion to be treated equal, and that I was ashamed that she wasn't treated equal to me. I told her that I had not purchased anything at that Bar, and in fact had been there COUNTLESS times to watch sports and drink water. That the Bartenders would, at times, give me cola and even chex-style bar mix to snack on. I apologized to Lontondra Banks today for the way she was treated, and said I wanted her name to write this article.

Martin Luther King Jr. said so many things of substance. I am reminded of my post from yesterday, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”

I'm going to get this message out, because Martin Luther King Jr. was on point, "The Time Is ALWAYS right to Do The Right Thing." And to that I say "Amen Dr. King... Amen."

*UPDATE* Due to a recent conversation, with someone who seemed to try to include me as a fellow 'Conspiracy Theorist.' I now want to add that this happening should be on security cameras. I do not have a relationship or friendship with the victim. I have no gain from writing this. And since I felt a "crooked conversation" came my way while this individual clearly quoted parts of my profile to me, I am now willing to take a polygraph and even testify, on behalf of Lontondra Banks, that what I'm saying is the absolute truth. Enough said. What I think about the legalities of sports politics, or Branding, or Mental Illness has no bearing on what I saw happen to another person. And THAT Bartender following orders from another EQUALLY TABC-Licensed Bartender is neither a right reason, nor a JUSTIFIED excuse. If one Licensed individual tells another what to do, it is ONLY seen as advice. It's no different than ADVISING, an carries no weight.

Furthermore, the fact that it happened on MLK Day wasn't a Created Conspiracy, but instead... One Hell of a Coincidence. I may NEVER be good at defending myself, so trying to dis-credit me is as simple as slander. But, this isn't about me... and so I FIRMLY STAND!