http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/travel...788/detail.html

 

 

Study Finds Racism In New Orleans' Bourbon Street Bars

 

POSTED: 8:48 am CDT April 14, 2005

 

NEW ORLEANS -- Head to New Orleans' famed Bourbon Street any hour of the night or day and you'll find music, booze and a party atmosphere. If you're black, you run a better than even chance of also finding discrimination, harassment and price gouging, according to a new study.

 

A study conducted by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center shows that blacks who go for a drink along Bourbon Street have a 50-50 chance of either having to pay more or being forced into ordering a minimum number of drinks.

 

The study was done in the wake of the death of a black Georgia Southern student who suffocated after a scuffle with white bouncers outside Razzoo Bar and Patio.

 

The organization paired black and white men -- dubbed mystery shoppers -- of the same type, body style, dress and manner, sent them into 28 Bourbon Street bars within minutes of each other to evaluate the treatment they received.

 

In 57 percent of the bars, the black men received less favorable treatment than their white counterparts. In 40 percent of the bars, the black men were charged more for drinks. In 10 percent, they were told there was a drink minimum which they would have to buy, while the white men weren't. In 7 percent of the bars, the black men were told they would have to meet a dress code, while the white men dressed in the same fashion were not.

 

"This is 2005," said Human Relations Commission member Larry Bagneris. "This is not 1964, and this will not be tolerated in the city of New Orleans."

 

Names of the bars in the study were not released. They will be notified of the findings and invited to workshops in May that will stress not only the laws but sensitivity training.

 

"Why all the fuss over a little discrimination in nightclubs and bars?" said Fair Housing Action Center spokeswoman Diana Dunn. "Why? Because we don't want any more young black men killed in the French Quarter."

That's just f***ing wrong! :headshake

That's just f***ing wrong!  :headshake

 

 

I've never been there so I have no idea what it's like.. but this is a good reason not to bother going..

One of my cousins used to work in New Orleans and mentioned that race relations down there were rather poor.

Is this also an indictment on a lot of southern cities? I haven't traveled much down there, so I'm curious. YAS, don't attack, i'm just asking because I don't know.

I've never been there so I have no idea what it's like.. but this is a good reason not to bother going..

I've never been either. My cousin just got back. I'll have to ask him.

I've never been either. My cousin just got back. I'll have to ask him.

 

 

IIRC Tex has been there a few times..

I've been down there and I believe some places are that way.

Ah, good ole Nawlins, still a good time for a weekend.

IIRC Tex has been there a few times..

Speaking of...where the hell has he been?

Speaking of...where the hell has he been?

 

 

Thought he said new job...

Thought he said new job... 

I must have missed that.

Is this also an indictment on a lot of southern cities?  I haven't traveled much down there, so I'm curious.  YAS, don't attack, i'm just asking because I don't know.

 

At least people are starting to think about it before saying something. I'm making progress.

Is this also an indictment on a lot of southern cities?  I haven't traveled much down there, so I'm curious.  YAS, don't attack, i'm just asking because I don't know.

 

I've been told by friends that reverse racism is particularly bad in Atlanta and North Carolina. That's just their perception, though.

I was too drunk to remember or notice if they were racist...

 

Ok, what the heck is iirc?

Ok, what the heck is iirc?

 

If

I

Recall

Correctly

as a white guy, I can honestly say that reverse racisim is the biggest joke out there.

f***ing retarded, blacks are some of my best freinds.