turbans at the annex: serious business

[substitute]

Our local lame bar, Pierce Street Annex, has revised their policies to allow turbans in the bar, after a Sikh complained and asked for an apology.

The article says: "Sanjum Paul Singh Samagh, 24, accompanied friends to the Pierce Street Annex bar last year, only to be turned away because his turban was deemed to conflict with a rule prohibiting hats."

Good, he can enter with his turban now.

What's not mentioned is why bars ban hats: it's to keep out black guys. American black guys almost always wear a hat going out at night. It's an old, known technique for keeping their presence to a minimum. It's similar to gay bars banning open-toed shoes "for safety" to keep down the number of women who show up to dance with gay guys.

For some time now, Pierce Street has been a destination for black guys from Riverside County who drive out here to be in Newport/Mesa instead of Riverside. I guess the management decided there were too many of them.

Bars are just a disaster in Southern California. Everyone drives home, and a bar can't make money unless you have at least two drinks, so the entire business relies on drunk driving. And then they make desperate attempts to keep a money-making "demographic" in the bar, which they can only achieve by violating discrimination laws and acting like assholes.

I liked the bars in SF and NY, where you could walk home if you wanted. I bet they have similar issues with the "mix of the crowd" though.

Comments

[threepunchstuff.livejournal.com]

You still cannot wear your Ushanka hat to the Pancakes R Us across the street.