Yeah, that happened to me once at a Chinese restaurant in Toronto. I was in a mixed party - 3 Chinese people and me (I look European). They totally ignored us. I wanted to send out for pizza.
She went to East St. Louis High School located in East St. Louis, IL. To say that it is one of the worst cities in the country is an understatement, especially at that time. It was the murder capital of the country at various points in the past 30 years and is currently #1 in that category. There is no wonder why other high schools wouldn’t go there, and it’s nothing to do with racism.
As for the eating on the bus, couldn’t there be a different explanation for that? Perhaps the 40 kids on the track team would have had nowhere to sit so the restaurant said “You can order food, but you’ll have to eat on the bus.”
I know some bars here (Texas, Oklahoma) in the 80s would have “dress codes” that allowed bouncers to pick and choose who to let in.
Black people, especially guys, just never met the “dress code”. They would let in one or two occasionally, usually someone they knew, to point to in case claims of discrimination were made. This was explained to me by bouncers and bartenders at said clubs.
I can say from personal experience that it seemed to be pretty damn effective. I don’t know how long it lasted, as I quit going to those venues once I found out what was happening.
I also know of at least one occasion in the mid 70s where church members boycotted services rather than “desegregate”.
When a black family came to church a couple of times, people got up and left. They refused to return to services until assured that the problem was solved.
I’m not sure how or why the black family ceased attending - it could have been a personal decision based on the nasty reaction they got, or it could have been under pressure.
I know several black people that will tell similar stories covering various experiences over the last several decades. It’s better now, but certainly not completely gone. This type of behavior definitely was happening in the 70s and 80s, by various means.
This still happens, I think. I’ve been to quite a few places where the dress code prohibitions are pretty much all items that young black urban males would wear.
I also read a book by a strip club bouncer in Vegas who claimed the dress code pretty much existed to keep black guys out. I think he was talking about a time less than 10 years ago.
That being said, I suppose that doesn’t mean all black people would have a problem. If four black guys showed up in business suits, they might not have a problem, and if white kids showed up dressed like Tupac, they might be shown the door.
Cracker Barrel also fired openly gay wait staff in the early 1990s as a matter of company policy. (For cite just google gay & C.B.) Even since their b.o.d. officially rescinded the policy more than 10 years later it’s considered one of the least gay friendly restaurant chains. Tis a pity, because I like the food but can’t in good conscience patronize them.
It’s possible. I remember going on field trips from my mostly-white suburban Connecticut schools and stopping at fast food restaurants for lunch. and finding that the restaurants were not happy to have one or two busloads of schoolchildren appear without warning. (That number of customers at once tends to overwhelm the restaurant staff.)
But then again, wouldn’t her track team have been only about 6-12 girls?
In my experience, the track team was one of the largest. There are quite a few events and at least at my high school, no one was cut.
My sister was on track in highschool (she finished just over a year ago). The bus was pretty much full.
I’m white. LAST YEAR I went to a conference in central Sydney. Pretty cosmopolitan town, pretty broad-minded, what with the GLT Mardi Gras and all (and yes, I realise the irony in “broad minded” in that context). Or so I thought. After the conference, there were drinks, then visits to various licensed establishments in the city. Took a bunch of international visitors. These blokes were prominent lawyers in their countries, wearing suits, looking perfectly respectable, and drinking in painful moderation.
And we got cut out of a lo-o-o-ong list of establishments because they were “full”, just closing, we were too drunk, etc. It was painfully obvious that it was because the fellows I was with were dark skinned Pacific Islanders.
The blokes were perfectly dignified about it, but I was so ashamed. And bloody angry. Short of making a scene (which wouldn’t have worked anyway) there was nothing I could do, and they didn’t want that.
Bastard bouncers.
Realize that the last major college football team to integrate was the University of Texas. That occurred in (IIRC) 1972 or 1974. Integration of many other southern college teams were only a year or a few years before that. Imagine an all-white football team playing major college football today. How do you spell “all-time record losing streak”?
Integration in the US is more recent than a lot of people realize. Although laws were enacted, the reality of segregation continued.
Just for what it’s worth, I was in my high school’s marching band for four years in the 1980s. We had between 80-100 kids, plus of course adult staff members and chaperons with us, and generally rode on three buses. If we had to eat “on the road”, one of the staff members would call ahead to a fast food restaurant in the correct area and ask if we were welcome. They always found someplace we could stop and eat and we never had to sit and eat on the bus. And for the record, this was a Catholic high school with a largely white student body, and I do believe that was relevant, even in the Quaker State.
Mind you, our band director had ways of communicating what the consequences would be if our behavior was not exemplary, so we did not wear out our welcome :eek: 
This sounds like a perfect time to do one of those hidden camera things.
Your group tries the same places, with a hidden camera recording the lame excuses. You have a second group, white only with the same number of people, follow ten minutes behind, recording their own experience. Make sure you go to many places to get a good sample.
You might even add an extra person to group 2 to further refute the “no room” excuse. Monitor the door as well, to see if several tables just freed up after group 1 left.
You would have some mighty fine video to share with the local news stations.
I’ve been in a restaurant when a bus load of rowdy teenagers took over the place. Ruined even what little atmosphere you might expect in a fast food place. It takes forever to serve all of them, but the first ones still all stay until the last one is done, and without food to distract them the behavior gets even worse than it started out.
Well, couldn’t it have also been their refusal to add more “flair”?
Oh, wait…
My father was in the Army and we normally lived on base throughout my childhood, but there one period of time (c 1975) when the post where my dad was stationed had no family housing. So we moved into a house in the farming town that bordered the post. When a big corporation started trying to buy up plots of farmland to build a factory, a group of concerned homeowners asked my dad, who was an attorney, if he could lend them some assistance. He duly researched the issue and showed up at a town meeting to present his findings. As it turned out, some of those in attendance at the meeting decided my father’s opinions were largely invalidated by the fact that our family was known to attend the local Catholic church.
There’s a “Persian” restaurant right over in Campbell/San Jose where if you are not Persian (etc) they will simply ignore for for an hour or more.
I was alive in the 70’s and 80’s and her claim she wasn’t allowed in is completely unbeleiveable. Snubbed? Given poor service? Made to feel unwelcome? In the 70’s*, sure. Not allowed in? Bullshit.
*(but the 80’s? :dubious: )