After initiating a
petition and outreach campaign to the owner of Continental Bar, which has been
the subject of frequent allegations of racism, ANSWER Coalition activists and
members of the PSL in New York City held a second picket in front of the bar
Sat. Jan. 29 from
8-9:30p.m. The first picket was held December 10.
A crowd of over
three-dozen individuals gathered at the front doors of Continental Bar with
placards, chanting, “Hey hey ho ho, Continental’s got to go!”
The activists were
joined by several members of the press, as well as by Shaniqua Pippen and
others who have been turned away from the bar due to its discriminatory door
policy.
In June, Pippen, a young
African American woman, headed to Continental Bar for an evening of fun. When
she got there, she was turned away. “Your people don’t know how to act,” she
was told. In August, a young gay man was turned away at the
door also. “We’re not serving your kind tonight,” he was told.
Trigger Smith, the owner
of Continental explained himself in an interview to reporter Meredith Hoffman
of the Local East Village, stating, “I’m not going to be politically correct
and just let anybody in. I look at things in the long run.” He continued to say
that many patrons were turned away for not adhering to an unwritten dress code
and admitted, “It just so happens that more people of a certain minority wear
these things than others.”
During the most recent
picket, Smith came out and addressed the crowd, asking demonstrators to end
their picket and join him inside for a conversation. Jinnette Cáceres, one of the organizers of the picket,
responded, “We will not meet with you inside of your racist establishment as we
have told you before, but we are more than happy to schedule a meeting
elsewhere and will go on with our picket!”
The picket continued and
Smith taunted the activists saying, “Louder, louder, I can’t hear you,” as they
chanted.
The ANSWER Coalition has
collected testimony from more than 30 people who say they have been met with
racism or bigotry at the Continental Bar. When the owner of Continental was
asked by ANSWER Coalition organizers to address these complaints in the past,
he refused. The bar is currently under investigation with the New York City
Commission on Human Rights.
“This is a struggle
against intolerance, to defend civil rights! What they are doing is not fair.
When they do that to other people they are adding to the negativity in the
world and hurting people, and they should understand that,” said Pippen.
Members of the PSL and
ANSWER Coalition will continue to follow up with the owner of Continental Bar
to schedule a sit down meeting with him. One such meeting had previously been
scheduled for Sept. 16, but Smith backed out at the last minute. Organizers’
demands remain the same: (1) that the bar host multicultural-themed nights and
support these with proper advertisement, (2) that the management post an
anti-discrimination statement on their website, and (3) that the owner and
management attend cultural sensitivity workshops.
