Restaurants nationwide are guilty of a “racist dress code problem,” according to a recent Salon piece that alleged such dress codes are “implemented unevenly” among patrons, after the former mayor of Atlanta was turned away from an upscale chain steakhouse in Atlanta due to her attire.
Penned by the left-wing site’s deputy food editor Ashlie D. Stevens and titled “Keisha Lance Bottoms denied service: It’s time to admit restaurants have a racist dress code problem,” the Tuesday Salon essay claimed that there exists a “long history of dress codes being implemented unevenly among Black and white restaurant patrons.”
The article begins by referencing a recent tweet from former Democrat mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms about being turned away from the upscale Capital Grille steakhouse for wearing leggings.
It also noted the many responses to the tweet sharing the venue’s dress code.
In one reply, Atlanta news anchor Kristin Holloway shared a screenshot of the restaurant’s “polite notice” that explicitly states:
For the comfort of all guests and to better deliver on our promise of a refined atmosphere, proper dress is required. Thank you for not wearing: gym attire, sweatpants, tank tops, hats, clothing with offensive language or images, exposed undergarments.
In a follow-up tweet, Bottoms said it was “odd” that a restaurant located in a “mall parking lot” would turn away customers in “‘mall’ attire,” while insinuating the rules may not be enforced for everyone equally.
But not everyone sympathized with Bottoms.
“Instead of honoring the rules at @capitalgrille, the former mayor of Atlanta is pitching a hissy fit,” wrote conservative commentator Todd Starnes.
“They have a dress code apparently, you could go somewhere else though,” wrote Ron DeSantis’s (R) press secretary Christina Pushaw. “Now imagine how it feels for people who could not get into any restaurant because they chose not to get a shot.”
“I was informed – by your channel – that private business can do as it pleases,” wrote conservative author and lawyer Kurt Schlichter
The Salon essay goes on to claim that various social media photos from the restaurant’s locations purportedly show white patrons violating the dress code.
“A cursory search through social media photographs taken at the restaurant’s various locations appears to show customers dressed in all manner of clothing, including ball caps, gym attire, ripped jeans exposing fishnet stockings — even leggings,” Stevens wrote.
“However, there is one noticeable discrepancy,” she added. “The aforementioned patrons were white, while Bottoms is Black.”
Stevens then called the whole incident an example of countrywide dress codes that perpetuate racism.
“Unfortunately, this is only the latest example of what critics describe as the use of dress codes at bars and restaurants as a means of perpetuating racism,” she wrote. “Across the country, there have been numerous reports of managers and staff barring patrons of color for purportedly not being dressed ‘appropriately,’ despite the fact that white customers were seen dining in similar attire.”
“It’s a practice that is classist gatekeeping at best and racial discrimination at worst — and it all boils down to whom dining establishments want to invite in and whom they want to keep out,” she added.
She also cited Zachary Brewster, an associate professor of sociology at Wayne State University, in support of her premise.
“What goes on in a restaurant is kind of indicative of what goes on in the broader culture,” Brewster is quoted as saying. “Whites are certainly still privileged when dining out.”
The Salon piece concluded by claiming that in “the long history of dress codes being implemented unevenly among Black and white patrons, Bottoms has become yet another name on an ever-growing list.”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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