Serious claims of discrimination deserve review
Jessica Donnelly
graduate student
I would like to respond to both Kiflin Turner's Inside Column and Kristine Rosario's letter in Viewpoint from last Wednesday's Observer.
First of all, I have had my valid Connecticut driver's license questioned at three different South Bend establishments (the Linebacker, Corby's and yes, Heartland). In every one of these instances, the bouncers at each respective bar told me to go home and get my passport, regardless of how many credit cards or student IDs I had with my name and picture. If a driver's license looks fake, most bars will request the next most verifiable piece of identification, which in most cases is a passport.
Because of this, I have a tendency to take my passport with me whenever I go to bars. If Rosario's ID is as phony and easily replicable as she says it is and she often has trouble with it, I would suggest carrying around some sort of identification that is less questionable. The fact that her ID was questioned and they asked her to get a passport as a second form should not even be an issue.
Second, I completely agree that any derogatory remarks or attitudes are intolerable and should be dealt with immediately. However, I do not believe it is applicable in this case. I happen to waitress at Chicago Steakhouse, which as many of you may know is attached to and under the same management as Heartland.
I have discussed the events of last Thursday at great length with the manager and have come to the conclusion that things did not go quite the way they have been portrayed. For those of you who may not know, the doors of Heartland are under video surveillance.
According to the video of that night, the bouncer looked at the ID and refused Rosario admittance. She then proceeded to talk with him for 35 to 40 seconds, presumably about how her ID was in fact valid. She then turned to walk away, which, according to her version of the story, is when he made the negative remarks to her. Most of Rosario's friends had already been admitted into the bar ahead of her, out of hearing range of anything that could have been said.
In addition, neither the other bouncer standing at the door that night, nor any of the many people standing in line heard any deragatory comments. (If a third party does happen to come forward and refute that, I will gladly retract these statements and agree wholeheartedly with Rosario and Turner.) However, at the moment, it seems that Rosario, in her frustration of already being refused, may be mistaken in what she claims she heard.
Right now, at best, this is a story of he-said, she-said. But, I would also like to address the phone conversations that occurred the same night. A few hours after the incident, the manager received a phone call with the complaint that someone's valid ID had been rejected. According to the manager, they spoke about how the ID was never a problem before and Heartland's policy regarding second forms of legitimate identification. The caller then described the bouncer who had taken the ID, so the manager could confront him.
Unfortunately, the person that was described was not actually the bouncer who took the ID. The one in question, as a matter of fact, is remarkably distinguishable from the one described.
Personally, if I had been so offended by someone's comments, I would remember exactly who they were and what they looked like. In addition, the caller did not bring up the deragatory comment supposedly made by the bouncer until the very end of the conversation. Now it seems to me that that comment is the main issue in this case, and it strikes me as odd that it is only mentioned as an afterthought. If this was indeed the main problem, it should have been brought up first and foremost.
Now if Kristine still sticks by her story, it is obviously her choice not to return to Heartland. However, it has come to my attention that the Viewpoint letter written in Wednesday's Observer has been copied and distributed all around town.
This letter, if you recall, claims that Heartland is ignorant and hires people who discriminate. These are very serious accusations. Besides the fact that Kristine had spent many, many nights at Heartland without a problem, I would venture to say that I have never seen anyone refused admittance for any reason other than fake (or fake-looking) IDs.
For Kristine and her friends to spread this kind of information based upon one story (of hearsay, at best) could obviously be very damaging to a reputation. One incident of a frustrated patron refused admittance who thinks she hears something is not, in my opinion, a valid reason to say an establishment discriminates.
Once again, I agree that any derogatory remarks indicating discrimination are intolerable and should be dealt with immediately. However, such powerful accusations should be backed by indisputable facts, which, I believe, are lacking in this case.
Jessica Donnelly
graduate student
off-campus
Feb. 6
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 12, 2003
