Race Distinctions in American LawStephenson, Gilbert Thomas
History
Race Distinctions in American Law
Stephenson, Gilbert Thomas
African Americans -- Politics and government; Law -- United States -- History; United States -- Race relations
Race discrimination in restaurants is prohibited by thirteen States; in
taverns, by one; in eating-houses, by eleven; in boarding-houses, by
one; in cafés, by one; in chop-houses, by one; and at lunch-counters, by
one. These will be considered under the general head of restaurants.
In 1881 a Negro was refused accommodation in a restaurant in New York.
At that time the laws of the State prohibited discrimination in inns.
The restaurant-keeper argued as a defence in the suit that followed that
the restaurant was not included in the term “inns.” The court[267] held
that the legislature meant by “inn” a place that furnished both lodging
and food to guests, that “restaurant” had no fixed legal meaning, and
that the declaration was sufficient if it said “inn” and then explained
it by calling it a restaurant.
A Negro went to a restaurant in Detroit in 1887 and asked for
accommodation. The clerk told him that he could not be served on the
restaurant side, but that he would be served if he went over on the
saloon side. The colored man complained to the proprietor and was told
that it was the rule of the house not to serve Negroes in the restaurant
room. The statute of Michigan required full and equal accommodation in
restaurants. The court[268] held that the statute would not be satisfied
if the Negro were given as good accommodations but in a different room,
saying: “In Michigan there must be and is an absolute, unconditional
equality of white and colored men before the law.... Whatever right a
white man has in a public place, the black man has also.”
In 1897 a colored man went into a restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
After sitting at the table forty minutes without having his order taken,
he complained, and was told that he was not served because he was
colored. He left, and later brought suit. At the trial, it appeared that
the discrimination was not with the sanction of the proprietor, that he
had told the waiter to serve Negroes, that the waiter had refused to do
so and was discharged therefor. Nevertheless, the court[269] held that
the proprietor was liable for the act of his servant, and gave
compensatory damages to the Negro.
The next year, a restaurant keeper refused to accommodate a Negro in
Lucas County, Ohio, and the court[270] allowed the Negro to recover the
penalty prescribed by the law. The case was decided on a question of
evidence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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