[Lekooks] Atrocious situation at Fishbones in Delafield

Sat Jun 6 10:47:58 CDT 2020

Thank you Susanne for bringing it to our attention.

On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 9:43 AM Suzette Nelson via Lekooks <
lekooks at lekook.org> wrote:

> UPDATE. Apology on Fishbones' website.
>
> Good morning friends. Thanks to all of you
> For your words and taking action. Some great suggestions here.
>
>  To those of you who asked for my friend's Facebook name, I don't think
> that will be necessary as the restaurant has received quite a lot of calls
> on this from people far and wide. (Just as an aside however, what I shared
> in the quotations on my first message was the direct post from my friend
> and what she asked people do was copy it and share it. She did not want to
> make it public from her own wall and I don't think that would have gone
> anywhere but – it doesn't matter because the restaurant has now posted an
> apology on their websites home page, and is apparently having a manager
> meet with the offended parties.
>
>   I'm sure its not representative of the owners' policies but a most
> unfortunate and ignorant
> Decision on the part of the manager. Asking the white people to move is
> what should have happened of course. I can understand being in a situation
> as a restaurant manager where you have to think fast to defuse a
> potentially confrontational situation amongst customers. This is why
> training is so critical. Nathan did not have the awareness or the skill
> set. So I really do hope that the restaurant follows through on their
> promise of training their staff.
>
>
> The restaurant issued an apology on their homepage of their website, and
> apparently is going to meet with the offended parties. That is a start.
> They have said that they are committed to better training of their staff as
> well.
>
> I think they are likely overwhelmed with calls about this right now and I
> believe that the point has been clearly made to them. They probably need to
> have manager Nathan on a full-time phone detail to handle all of the
> calls.!  It only takes a couple people sharing with committed friends to
> get an avalanche of response.
>
> Again thank you so much for your part in bringing awareness around this
> situation!
>
> Best,
> Suzette
>
> On Fri, Jun 5, 2020, 4:52 PM Fran B. <sandhillcrane at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I just had a lengthy discussion with Nathan, the manager at Fishbones. I
>> complemented him on the actions he is taking with his staff to make sure
>> nothing like this happens again. Apparently the staff member felt that the
>> white table was about to confront the table of two black and one white
>> individuals. Asking the racially mixed table to move was an ill conceived
>> solution.
>> I shared the idea of Nathan and Jackie Valde spearheading a Delafield
>> declaration of being a community that welcomes all. I also made it clear
>> that the sort of incident that occurred at his restaurant could easily go
>> viral in a matter of hours and deeply damage the reputation and bottom line
>> of both Zins and Fishbones. I very much like Bev's suggestion of plaques
>> on stores. I will share that with Jackie Valde. I encourage all of you to
>> send me ideas.
>> Thanks,
>> Fran Bills
>>
>> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
>> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/ghei36>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* Lekooks <lekooks-bounces at lekook.org> on behalf of Bev B. via
>> Lekooks <lekooks at lekook.org>
>> *Sent:* Friday, June 5, 2020 4:33:46 PM
>> *To:* Gerald Flakas <gerflak at aol.com>
>> *Cc:* lekooks at lekook.org <lekooks at lekook.org>; horsewmn42 at gmail.com <
>> horsewmn42 at gmail.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: [Lekooks] Atrocious situation at Fishbones in Delafield
>>
>> Nice going, Gerry!
>> The fact that Nathan is doing more than just apologize makes him sound
>> truly contrite and possibly "woke".
>> Bev
>>
>>
>>
>> At 03:24 PM 6/5/2020, Gerald Flakas via Lekooks wrote:
>>
>> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
>>          boundary="----=_Part_3469395_1631498311.1591388643113"
>> Content-Length: 10265
>>
>> I just got off the phone with the Fishbones manager Nathan, to inquire
>> about this situation.
>> He admitted to me that he overreacted inappropriately and that what he
>> did was a big mistake.
>> I asked him what they are doing to correct the situation, and he told me
>> they are bringing in diversity training for the staff, and he will be
>> meeting in person in the next few minutes with the people he offended.
>> He said he learned his lesson, and this won't happen again.
>>
>> I think we should accept his explanation as a painful lesson learned, and
>> expect he will not do anything so hurtful and foolish again
>> Redemption is possible; remember the "Amazing Grace words", "I once was
>> lost, and now am found".
>> We all make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.
>> No "death penalty" for Fishbones and Zins from me, anyway (unless it
>> happens again).
>>
>> Gerry Flakas
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Suzette Nelson via Lekooks <lekooks at lekook.org>
>> To: lekooks <lekooks at lekook.org>
>> Sent: Thu, Jun 4, 2020 10:17 pm
>> Subject: [Lekooks] Atrocious situation at Fishbones in Delafield
>>
>> Hi friends. I want to share the following with you. A friend of mine who
>> lives in Pewaukee posted this on her Facebook page today. I am copying and
>> pasting it. Please please consider calling the management at Fishbones in
>> Delafield and expressing your outrage at this situation.
>> And please consider not patronizing this restaurant and letting them know
>> that. Particularly if you live in Lake Country, which I'm guessing most of
>> you do. Here is the copy of her message.
>>
>> "People of conscience, a friend of mine who is black has shared a
>> troubling story with me. Her son and a couple friends (one black, the other
>> white) were dining on the patio at an area restaurant yesterday, and like
>> many of us, they were discussing the events of the day - George Floydâ€™s
>> murder, the civil unrest we are seeing locally and across the globe, and
>> all that goes with it. I am sad to report that they were asked to MOVE from
>> their table to another area of the patio. Management initially pretended
>> the move was necessary because of an incoming reservation, but that lie was
>> exposed when one of the young men stepped out to the parking lot and called
>> and asked about getting a reservation on the patio. Turns out the
>> restaurant doesnâ€™t even take reservations for that area; itâ€™s first
>> come, first served. No one else was asked to move.
>>
>> When the young men politely questioned the restaurantâ€™s decision, the
>> manager told them they were moved at another patronâ€™s request and that,
>> â€œAround these parts, things are just different.â€
>>
>> Are you kidding me? Black people talking about racism is so problematic
>> for white ears that it has to be banished to an area where no one will hear
>> it? No. If anyone should have been asked to move, it should have been the
>> white pearl clutchers. This is a case of discrimination and marginalization
>> of people of color and we need to let this restaurant know that their
>> actions were unacceptable to us. I already made my phone call and believe
>> you me, the manager (Nathan) knew exactly what I was taking about and
>> thanked me for calling. I hope you will consider placing a call as well,
>> especially if you are a white resident of Lake Country. Nothing changes
>> till we make it change. This may feel small in the overall scheme of
>> things, but micro-aggressions lead to aggressions, make no mistake.
>>
>> The restaurant is Fishbones in Delafield, and I will miss their Spicy
>> Cajun Pasta and Red Beans and Rice dearly.
>>
>> 262-646-4696"
>>
>> My additional comment:
>> I want so badly to find a way to either make this viral or stand in front
>> of the restaurant with a sign that says "this restaurant asks people of
>> color to move to the back of the room!" I am stunned. "Things are different
>> in these parts"?!? Oh. My. God.
>> Also....any violation of civil rights here??
>>
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