Louisville makes national news again, but not in a good way

[Robin Garr]

... if Mr. Mulligan is shown to be a serial complainer, others who may suffer legitimate discrimination will likely not be taken as seriously.

Well ... I agree that the jury is still out. That's the way the system works. But first, let's review:

* Cordish has a long record of complaints for similar behavior, and there's been a consensus here that, whether it's admirable of them or not, they could be argued (absent morality) to have a commercial interest in keeping 4SL predominantly white.

* Serial complainer? What's that? If in fact Cordish consistently pushes the envelope with profiling, is a guy in the subject class who decides to push back ... repeatedly ... necessarily doing wrong? Let's not be any quicker to judge his motives than Cordish's. A lot of civil rights complainers back in the day got arrested repeatedly because they thought it important to fight for their rights.

What I'm thinking of as a serial complainer is someone who files multiple complaints with the goal of receiving cash settlements. Does that describe Mr. Mulligan? I don't know. I haven't seen anything in any of the stories that refer to previous complaints by Mr. Mulligan about his treatment at 4SL. His previous actions were a disability claim, a personal injury claim and this thing related to telling the police to slow down (or so says the CJ).

Mind you, my interest in this is strictly from the angle of having worked as a journalist and not out of any concern for 4SL. I can maybe see AlterNet running it, but a lot of other news outlets picked it up without asking Journalism 101 questions. Every story that's been publish on this has comments calling for a boycott of Maker's Mark. I just think that's a shame.

Looks like the work of a professional plaintiff looking for a payday[/url].

You can discern that from the CJ's rehash?

Sometimes ya just have to call a spade a spade...

Ignoring the "dispicable"(ness) of discrimination (in general) for the moment and focusing just on the -reality- of this (type) of issue...I guaran-damn-tee you that right-wrong or indifferent introducing a strong young-urban-black presence into places like 4SL will keep white suburbanites away. I've seen it happen.

Probably true, because racial bigotry, sadly, runs deep in US history and culture, going all the way back to slavery in colonial times. And some politicians continue playing the race card with "dog whistles," as we saw on the losing side last month.

So what I hear you saying then is that where a strong young urban black element ever to become prevalent at 4SL that any white suburbanite who chooses to take their money elsewhere as a result is a bigot ?

[Robin Garr]

So what I hear you saying then is that where a strong young urban black element ever to become prevalent at 4SL that any white suburbanite who chooses to take their money elsewhere as a result is a bigot ?

You're reading way too much between the lines, and vastly over-generalizing. But I'd say, sure, some of them would be.

Man, I leave the country for eight days (just back from Berlin), and look at the progress Louisville has made. National media again. What will we do next?

Pending findings of truth, I'd say these guys get stripped of their license by MM, and probably shut down. There is no place for blatant racism here. Wow.

Sometimes ya just have to call a spade a spade...

Ugh. Poor choice of words, man.

Sometimes ya just have to call a spade a spade...

Ugh. Poor choice of words, man.

Actually Joel, if you were to explore the origins of the expression you will discover it has nothing to do with race...at all.

You are right, Steve.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_call_a_spade_a_spade
But some of us follow the last sentence to avoid offense.
Deb

[Robin Garr]

But some of us follow the last sentence to avoid offense.

That last sentence being, "in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur."

It's really all about good manners and common sense.

It's really all about good manners and common sense.

Bingo.

But some of us follow the last sentence to avoid offense.

That last sentence being, "in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur."

It's really all about good manners and common sense.

What?

You mean like assuming all Republicans are racist exploiters? All Tea Partiers are ignorant racists? And all non-mainline Christians are ignorant, misled, homophobes? Are those the kind of manners you are talking about?

[Robin Garr]

Are those the kind of manners you are talking about?

But some of us follow the last sentence to avoid offense.

That last sentence being, "in contemporary U.S. society, the idiom is often avoided due to potential confusion with the slur."

It's really all about good manners and common sense.

My point in using that phase was to illustrate how many of you are so adept at "picking and choosing" what you find offensive...For example -many- people find the term "hillbilly" to be offensive and degrading to a certain segment of society...but I don't hear any of you pissing and moaning when (for example) a restaurant actually uses the word "Hillbilly" in their name. 4SL has (actually -had-) a policy of not allowing people (whether they be black, white or purple) entry if they were wearing "baggy clothes"...and ya'll get all pissy about how it is discriminatory. Conversely, no one says a damn word when a place like "Henry's" has a policy that "gentlemen" must be attired in a jacket...or when one of the finer tables in town suddenly finds itself "totally booked" when someone not fitting the profile of their desired clientele suddenly shows up at the door.

[Robin Garr]

My point ...

Merry Christmas, Steve. I hope you guys have a good one.