After enjoying a night out at a local restaurant, an interracial Georgia couple was disgusted and stunned when they discovered a racially motivated note on their valet ticket.
Candea and Sam Aarons were enjoying a date night at Spondivits restaurant in East Point, Georgia, and after departing they discovered that someone wrote “jungle fever” on the valet ticket, which was still attached to their keychain.
According to ABC News, Aaron knew that the person who wrote the message wanted her and her husband to see it because they have visited this restaurant in the past and the valet tag is always removed before the keys are returned to customers.
Spondivitis restaurant contracts with APS valet and when Aaron contacted the company they issued an apology and fired the valet responsible for the offense.
Glenn Gagne, the chef who oversees the restaurant, argues that although the actions in question caused this valet to lose his job, he believes it was just a lapse in judgment and not racism.
Aaron chose to bring media attention to the incident to send a message that racism would not be tolerated. I commend her for bringing light to the issue because any couple, regardless of appearance, should be able to enjoy a night out without being subjected to something this ignorant and insensitive.
BMWK – the chatter on the web is that the valet’s comments were insensitive and not racist? What do you think?
Featured Image Courtesy of ABC News
Rosemary says
It’s hard to see how anyone could not characterize this as racist. Certainly there are cases where a particular word or phrase could be interpreted in more than one way and so might or might not have been intended in a racist way. Sure, “jungle fever” isn’t racist if you are traveling through a jungle and catch a tropical fever. But when it’s used to label an interracial couple, there is no ambiguity.
Anonymous says
This is racism at the core. Although some details are left out like the person who committed this act was a African American male, and the interracial couple consisted of a black female with her highly regarded husband who is a “Sgt. Major” in the Army who happens to be white. I can completely understand her pain, I have been in many situation like this as a black woman who frequently dated outside of my race. I got nasty stares, insults thrown my way, and out right threats from black men. We as blacks must understand that racism goes both ways, God created one race which is the human race and once we fully understand that, hate full acts like these will stop. Love is blind people 🙂