Recently, I was refused service
by a presumptuous bartender at the Indigo District, who took offense to my shirt that read, “Coloreds of
Eugene Unite!” The quote that adorns these shirts derives from two sources: First, students of color
are not well represented at the
University School of Law, despite overwhelming attempts by the
University to recruit them; second, a group of my friends and I were at Rennie’s and noticed a startling lack of people of color.
After a round of pool, my turn came to buy drinks. At that time
the bartender pulled me aside and
notified me that he would not
serve me because of the potentially inflammatory nature of my shirt. Though incensed, I had no real beef because as a private place of business he could refuse me service. However, his decision was troubling. The
bartender’s own shirt proudly
displayed a large middle finger.
My experience at the Indigo District only belies the perceived liberal
attitude of Eugene. I cannot say that the whole of Eugene is as myopic and pathetic as Mr. Middle Finger
bartender. I can say, after my law school experience and after facilitating discussions on the topic of race for the undergraduate campus, that
Eugene is less accommodating than it would have you believe. My position is that most individuals in this
city have never had to encounter real issues of race.
In my experience, such individuals take a paternal approach on the subject of race. Such individuals are open to discussing the topic of race when it is controlled in a classroom setting and subject to a closed universe of reading. However, when the issue of race comes in a real social setting, this liberal bastion becomes nothing
more than a vagabond searching for a comfortable place to hide.
Comfortable means denying me service without seeking the meaning of my shirt. Comfortable means
assuming my intent without asking me why I wear certain clothing. Comfortable is why there is a race problem in this city, in this state, and in this country. This state is only
two generations removed from
miscegenation laws that outlawed marriage between a white person and a black person.
I enjoy the Indigo District, but I will never again patronize it because its employees presume to be the
harbingers of political correctness. From now on, the Indigo District will be nothing more than a place of
oppression. The irony is that the
person who in effect censored me was himself trying to project an
image of non-conformity with his shirt and his other attending
clothing, no doubt secured on a shopping spree at Urban Outfitters.
Robert Romero
Lodi, CA