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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Johnathan Wall & North Carolina's Young BLACK Voters: They Have Courage!














Only Young, BLACK People who currently reside in the 21st Century South possess enough Courage to Speak up about how it REALLY is in this region of the United States.

Most Older BLACK people who live in Southern States like North Carolina are either Afraid, too Brain-washed or too Embarrassed to Admit how things REALLY are even in the 21st Century.

Thus I Applaud Young, BLACK Men like Johnathan Wall, a Harvard College Student who decided that he was NOT going to Accept or Tolerate Blatant Racism as a Fact of Life.

This is NOT the 1950's!

This is NOT the 1960's!

This is NOT the 1970's!

Nor the 1980's!

This is the year 2012 and this kind of Blatant, In-Your-Face Jim Crow Racism and Segregation should NOT still be happening in the Southern United States of America.

Why is the Klu Klux Klan STILL being allowed to Control the State of North Carolina and the City Of Charlotte???

Why?

I implore more Young BLACK VOTERS who live in the South to STAND UP FOR YOUR LEGAL & CIVIL RIGHTS!

We Are Human Beings Created In God's Image NOT Animals!

We Have Equal Human Rights & We Demand To Be Respected As Human Beings!

God Bless Johnathan Wall & All Young, Courageous BLACK Voters Who Live In The South!







Raleigh, NC Discrimination Rally Fosters Dialogue About Racism


Nearly 100 people rallied in downtown Raleigh Saturday in support of a man who claims he was physically removed from a bar earlier this month because he is black.

Jonathan Wall, 21, filed a complaint last week against Todd Chriscoe, who manages The Downtown Sports Bar and Grill on Glenwood Avenue. In the paperwork, Wall accused Chriscoe, 47, of simple assault and ethnic intimidation. Wall says Chriscoe grabbed his wrists, put them behind his neck, forced him out of the bar and pushed him to the ground.

William Potter, an attorney for the bar, denies that Wall was mistreated and says he was kicked out because he's not a member. Potter said race had nothing to do with it.

Wall's supporters aren't convinced.

"I wish people were more evolved and we had gotten past things like this, but it's important to remember it still happens everywhere," said Clark Goldentyer, who attended Saturday's rally in Moore Square.

Organizers of the rally, called "Above It All: A Raleigh Stand Against Social Injustice," said they are trying to call attention to discrimination at several bars and nightclubs. They say people can rise above the issues by talking to each other about race and racism.

"This is, you know, an inter-generational dialogue," said organizer Marjorie Fields-Harris. "I think it's just a step in a good journey."

Rachel Powell said it's important for people of all racial backgrounds to stand in solidarity against discrimination.

"Even if we're not people of color, we very much sympathize," she said. "We stand against it as well, and I think that it's important for the community to know that they have support."

Wall and Chriscoe are scheduled to appear before a Wake County judge on July 23. Chriscoe said earlier this week that he looks forward to telling his side of the story in court.




Patrons allege discrimination at North Carolina sports bar

A sports bar in Raleigh, North Carolina has sparked outrage for repeatedly denying entry to black customers, with no apparent consequence from local law enforcement.

The most recent instance occurred June 16th when Jonathan Wall, a 21-year-old Harvard-bound college student from Raleigh, North Carolina, arrived at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill.

Wall and his two friends were first hassled when the bouncer told the group they needed a membership to enter the bar.

The bar is known to be a causal sports bar so the assertion that it was members-only club was the first indication that there might be a problem. According to Wall, when the bouncer noticed a police officer outside the bar, he allowed Wall and his friends to enter the bar.

Once inside the bar Wall was confronted by a hostile employee, who he later learned was the bar’s manager, and was identified as Todd Chriscoe.

As Wall tells the story, Chriscoe approached him in a rather aggressive manner and demanded that he buy a drink immediately or leave the bar.

Wall was waiting for his friends to return form the bathroom and told Chriscoe he would be drinking but was only waiting for his friend to return.

After a few moments, when Wall’s friend hadn’t returned form the bathroom, Chriscoe allegedly attacked Wall and began to physically remove him from the bar.

“After staring me down for about 30 seconds, he walked back over and said “Are you going to buy a drink, or are you going to leave?”

I replied, “As soon as my friend comes from the bathroom.” Before I cold utter another word, he grabbed my right wrist and my left arm and threw them behind my head in an effort to constrain me, although I was speaking to him [in a] calm and non-aggressive tone and didn’t once even gesture.

He then used excessive force to push me through the crowd and out of the club while I was still in this “headlock” of sorts, before pushing me out of the front door. As soon as he grabbed me, I let my body go limp because with the degree of force he was already using, I didn’t want him to think I was trying to fight back.

I accepted that he was on an ego-trip, and let him guide me through the club in this position before pushing me out.”

Once outside, Wall found a police officer standing outside and tried to explain what had just occurred. The officer spoke with both parties, but encouraged Wall to overlook the episode, telling him she knew something like this would happen once he entered the bar.

“She explained that this happens all the time, and that if she approached the bartender about it, he’d have witnesses that would corroborate whatever story he made up as to why he kicked me out in such an aggressive manner.

She then explained that my options were limited because if she proceeded with getting statements from both of us and conducted an investigation, the end result could be worse for me: either it would get dismissed in court, or we would both be charged with what is the equivalent of “fighting” and both have a misdemeanor.

She said “He probably has a few charges already, but you’re young with a bright future ahead of you, and you don’t want that on your record.”

What disturbed Wall most was the officer’s casual response to the incident and “that she seemed to assume the worst case scenario in every possible solution to my encounter. She kept talking about how much paper work would be involved,” Wall explained to friends after the encounter.

After Wall’s former professor at the North Carolina Central University, Philip Christman, posted Wall’s account of the incident on his blog yesterday, other African-Americans began to post comments on Christaman’s blog relaying similar experiences at Downtown Sports Bar and Grill in Raleigh.

There are now more than a dozen posts telling tales of racial discrimination at the same bar and others in the area.

Now, Wall and others have embarked on an social media campaign to have the bar shut down and are demanding action on the part of local law enforcement and the City of Raleigh.

The incident has spawned a Facebook page, ‘Stop Race Discrimination at Downtown Sports bar NOW and has over 3000 followers.

On the page, followers tell tales of similar experiences, share legal advice and seem to be building a ground swell of support that may result in serious consequences for the bar and law enforcement for allegedly overlooking these accounts of racial discrimination.



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Sources: The Grio, WRAL, Google Maps

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