Racism and racial justice is currently at the forefront of today’s society, and it brings quite a lot of controversy with it. A video has emerged on social media showing this black woman being kicked out of a family restaurant due to her ‘inappropriate’ outfit. But to the woman, she believes the incident was racially motivated instead.
A recent incident involving Aireal Bonner and a restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama has sparked a major controversy. On a Friday night, Bonner was asked to leave the establishment due to her attire, but she doubts that her clothing was actually the issueāand she is not alone in this belief.
Bonner had just arrived at Southern Kitchen & Bar when an employee approached her with concerns about her outfit. The staff claimed that the crocheted top she was wearing was inappropriate for their āfamily-friendly atmosphereā and offered her a t-shirt to cover up.
When she refused to put on the shirt, they asked her to leave and cited their right as a privately owned business not to have their dress code posted publicly. In response, Bonner called out for the owner himself to come tell her why she needed to change or leaveābut instead of getting an answer from him, she says she was threatened with police involvement if she didnāt exit immediately.
Afterward, Bonner took to social media with video footage of what happened and accused the restaurant of being āracistā while also telling viewers not to eat there because they allegedly āslut-shameā customers.
When speaking with CBS 42 after the incident, Bonner doubled down on her doubts that clothing was really behind why she wasn’t allowed into Southern Kitchen & Barāfurther claiming race played a part in it all too. She suggested that because of how Afrocentric both her hair and clothes were perceived by staff members at the restaurant this may have been used as an excuse not let them dine there without going into specifics about race or skin color directly.
Additionally, Alabama Rally Against Injustice scheduled a sit-in protest outside Southern Kitchen & Bar afterwards claiming there were other women who wore similar items inside before without complaint which makes things even more confusing since no photos could be found online verifying these claims either way.
The restaurant has denied any claims of racism while reiterating that Bonner’s top violated its dress code policy which is apparently why they felt justified in asking them to leave or adjust accordingly. They did however apologize for waiting until after they had already sat down before addressing it rather than having done so upon entry like most establishments do routinely.
However , despite offering this apology, Bonner still refused to accept it — opting instead for people bombard their business page with negative reviews which caused Yelp page be taken down altogether soon thereafter.