When I worked in bars, many of them had dress codes that explicitly barred “colors” and other gang-wear from the bars.
This, by the way referred equally as much (sometimes moreso) to motorcycle club colors as to urban “gang” colors.
Here’s the thing; when you work in bars for a while, you realize that trouble comes in all shapes and colors and even genders – but there are some traits across colors, genders and social classes that let you know that trouble might be likely. Drunk guys in Packer jerseys; drunk rednecks in t-shirts and worn-out jeans; drunk guys in Marine greens (yep, I had that once); drunk bikers in their club colors; drunk urban youth in gang colors.
It wasn’t a “race” thing; it was a “trouble” thing.
The local (and to some extent national media) has been all a-swirl over the claim by Michelle Horovitz, leader and likely sole member of “Menu for Equity” or “Forks Against Racism” or some other such “group”, that h Bar Louie’s dress code is “overtly racist”:
A Minneapolis woman says a sign she found outside Bar Louie in Uptown was shocking, and she’s not shy about speaking out on the controversial dress code that has many saying they’ll no longer spend money there.
“It’s the new Jim Crow being enforced in a colorblind way,” Michelle Horovitz told Fox 9 News.
If it’s color-blind, Ms. Horovitz, then how is it “Jim Crow?”
“What is ‘excessively baggy?'” Horovitz asked. “Who’s going to judge that? Are you going to have Grandma B sitting by the door saying, ‘That’s too baggy’?”
Grandma B? That seems a little ageist of Ms. Horovitz, who looks – if I may profile – like an upper-middle-class white humanities graduate who’s trying to score a grant.
Horovitz considers the dress code to be both appalling and racist.
“You might as well say, ‘No black folks allowed,'” she said. “It’s ridiculous.”
She’s not the only one who is disgusted by the dress code either. Sean Tierney told Fox 9 News he believes it’s “totally racial profiling,” and Imani Vincent said the real message is clear.
Mr. Tierney is at least onto something. It’s definitely profiling. Not racial – social.
Bar Louie doesn’t want people coming in dressed like thugs and gang-bangers. Being in uptown Minneapolis (and Minnetonka), I’m gonna take a wild guess that they don’t get a lot of drunk bikers, drunk rednecks or drunk Packers fans; what trouble do you suppose they’ve had?
Let’s be honest; everybody profiles.
Let’s try a thought experiment: let’s take Michelle Horovitz – suburban upper-middle-class humanities or social “science” major (there, I’m profiling again) and check her reactions around, say, a group of drunk white guys with ZZ Top Beards and biker leathers, and blue-collar rednecks in white t-shirts and grubby jeans hanging around the pool tables?
Think she’s going to “discriminate” deep in her heart of hearts? Use her “profile” of drunk bikers and rednecks to guide her actions?
Based on clothing and visual cues?
Think Michelle Horovitz might be a “we-ist”, feeling more comfortable around people like her?
Place your bets.
(But when you’re placing your bets, I’ve got “she’s a publicity hound shooting for a grant from some progressive organization” taken already).
Let’s try another experiment: Michelle Horowitz and put on a flat-billed cap, a sleeveless tee-shirt or a non-collared athletic jersey and hang a huge chunk of bling around her neck and then drop over to BarLouie. I hypothesize that her privilege isn’t the only thing checked at the door.
Too bad they don’t have these requirements at the Rio Grande.
Not all Packers fans are drunk. At the moment, at least.
That’s because they are hung over
The wiggling and squirming displayed by Ms. Horowitz could equal an Olympic event if anyone were to ask her the question. That what often happens on the rare occasions when a liberal is asked to frame such an issue in an honest, personal context. However, I wouldn’t blame her. The environment she is helping to build has made honesty a deadly risk that few now care to take. Ask Paula Deen …
A racially troubled high school in Duluth enacted such a ban. The usual gang apparel and accessories were prohibited, and so was any type of Carhart work clothing garment. Talk about a broad brush – Carhart manufactures pretty basic, conservative, work/ style wear which is indistinguishable from mainstream jeans and such, except for the manufacturer’s label and price tag. Guess which two groups were supposedly affected by which style …
Regarding angling for a grant, it appears that Ms. Horovitz is the head of a group called “Appetite for Change”, which seeks to use cooking and food as a means for social change. Or something like that.
http://www.appetiteforchangemn.org/fresh-corners/
Yes, she would be applying for grants. LinkedIn says she’s a U law school graduate with a Penn degree who says she used to work at Michy’s in Miami. Here’s the site.
http://michysmiami.com/
I bet they’ve taken steps to keep Miami gangs out of there, and lessee….Ivy League degree, young woman with five years experience as a public defender walks away from law…..would we guess she’s a trust fund baby? Ding Ding!
http://www.startribune.com/business/224648221.html
She’s an heiress to the Minneapolis Glass company in Plymouth, which has mysteriously relocated from Minneapolis to the suburbs. Are we to believe that Ms. Horovitz has not managed to persuade her parents of the cruelty, the stereotyping, involved in fleeing North Minneapolis to somewhere with less lead in the air?
Apparently that is the case.
I missed her spot on the “other” talk station’s morning show, but apparently she repeatedly said, with all seriousness, “that merely by BEING white, you are a racist”.
Another black person called in and said she was spot on, that white people have “white privilege” and don’t realize their own racism because of it.
I did catch this sorry excuse for a human being on the UpAndAtEm, and she accused Jack of being a racist and then kept doubling up. It was unbelievable…
How about we pluck Ms. Horovitz from the faculty lounge and drop her off at the intersection of Avenida Caesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Boulevard at about 00:30 on Saturday?
I heard her whole session on U&AE yesterday and I agree with jpa! Using the same lack of intelligence that she exhibited on the show, she is the product of at least a well off Minnetonka family, looking for her 15 minutes of fame. Ben was having an anuerysm and was obviously pissed off at her stupidity.
Bubba,
Oh, wow.
Excellent work.
I may have to re-run this.
Mitch, you’re welcome. Google pulled it all up very quickly–evidently “Horovitz” isn’t as popular a name as one might think. The hypocrisy is just breathtaking, really.
if it weren’t for double standards the left wouldn’t have any
bike; great point on the re-lo to the burbs.
On another note, another company has decided to tell Minnesota to pound sand, costing about 200 local jobs. Goodwin Networks, of Plano, TX, purchased Hopkins based Mulitband on Monday. Yesterday, they announced to the local support and sales center that they will be closing the facility and anyone that wanted to stay with the company, would be required to move to Plano. Apparently, no one opted to make that move, although the person that shared this with me, who has worked there for only a month, is considering it.