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"Easy" - New Replacement Of "Fifth Amendment" Seems Hostile To African American Men

Is this the Oakland of the future? A place where black men are singled out and treated in less-than-human ways? It sure seems that way with the opening of "Easy", a restaurant and bar that opened in the space once used by the legendary Fifth Amendment on Lakeshore Avenue and in the business district that includes establishments such as Pete's Coffee and Arzimendi's.

Thursday, June 15th was the opening of "Easy" and to those not familar with Oakland lore, it was an occasion to be observed. Long time Oaklanders -- like me -- wandered in to see how this new place was going to treat the neighborhood. Look. I understand more than anyone the need for owners to close an establishment at 2 AM. I also know that many bars have "after 2 AM parties" for friends, and whomever. Some of these gatherings feature the use of drugs, so it's better to sweep out the clientele before 2 AM so they can have real fun.

Without naming names, there's one business not far from "Easy" which has such a reputation.

"Easy" has several men not of color who tell you it's "time to go" when closing time is near. The trouble is that a patron -- like me -- still has a credit card open. In my case I was waiting for the bar patron to close my "tab" when this young, bespecacled white man rushes up and yells in my ear "You have to go. Now. Go!"

Now the setting was such that I was standing next to a Latina who was also waiting for her "tab" -- but this guy, who's name's "Jim" didn't even say a thing to her. He's zeroed in on me. (Indeed, she -- Raquel -- pointed out Jim's terrible behavior to the lone "Easy" owner, to no avail.) I didn't like that at all. Since I was the only black man waiting for my credit card -- and Jim didn't even single out one white person -- I immediately suspected a hate crime in the making.

Jim's behavior comes at a time when reported hate crimes against blacks around the World are at an all time high over the past 30 years. For example there have been a reported 5,000 hate crimes in Russia alone this year-to-date, according to an NRP report and
this BBC article. That's just over 700 per month. And FIFA -- the producers of the popular World Cup series -- has taken the stance that a hate crime against a team of color or a fan of color will result in the halting of the entire World Cup match for several days. The head of FIFA said "If this is the way society is heading, then we need to fix the problem."

Oakland's got a similar crisis on its hands. "Easy" has no black male staffers who work the door at all. And Jim seemed to want to pick a fight with me -- for nothing. I only had one cocktail and was sitting down. Then, when they announced they were closing, I got up and went over to the main table to close my credit card; I gave them $7 for the one beverage.

Jim's behavior was such that I was planning to conduct a citizens arrest, and so told him I worked with the Oakland Police. The point was to get him to stop. Jim said "Don't come at me like that." To which I informed him that his behavior warranted my questions. I finally said to the owners to let him go as he was a liability. They didn't seem to listen. But they did agree he was being "hyper."

I asked the owners then -- and I ask them now -- to fire this person from his job.

Oakland can't afford to turn in this dark direction. It's true that the city's population is reaching "balance" but it doesn't mean that racial problems must rear their heads. If it's true that "Oakland's Not For Burning" then we need to have a good civic talk about the future of Oakland. What Iv'e seen is a slow increase in negative encounters between white staffers of cetain establishments and black men. In the case of "Easy" the staffers would all puff up their chest when talking to me; it was totally pavolvian.

Wild.

I'm not returning to "Easy." Not at all. I hope other black men get this message.

I also hope the Oakland Tribune takes a stance on this massive problem of the seeds of hate crimes.

Comments

V Smoothe said…
Zennie -

I'm sorry for your experience at Easy, but I think jumping to the conclusion that it was

First of all, the man I think you're talking about is not, in fact, white.

Second, I have spoken with multiple people who felt they were rudely rushed out of the bar, most of them white, and some who are friends of the owners. All of these people had nearly identical stories to yours and were angry about their treatment, but no others believe it to be racially motivated. It seemed to be a larger problem - there were tons of people there, they didn't start ushering people out early enough, and they were desperately trying to clear the bar out at 2, and unfortunately made a lot of customers angry in the process.
Zennie said…
I think there's an interesting tendency to assume that a person acts the same way for the same set of reasons. Not true.

I can only express what I experienced. You were not there. It's weird for a person to approach anyone as he did me. Moreover, the person you're talking about isn't black, and can't be assumed to look like anything close to a person of color.

Also, you're attempting to explain away this person's behavior without having been there. Remember, all the other people were white. I saw how they were treated and it was not anything like what I was dealing with, and it was not by the same person.

That written, the owner did contact me by email and I do accept his appology.

But nothing can erase the memory of "Jim's" behavior that night. Remember, I had a witness -- presented in the blog -- and she would forcefully disagree with you.

In closing, you don't wait until one calls another person a racial insult to then recognize race problems. More often than not, racism in the modern age is subtle, but still obvious to the observant eye.
Anonymous said…
The white man, although rude, commited no crime so i wouldn't go that far as to compare it to a hate crime. an injustice yes, but not neccesarily a hate crime.

I've read both of your stories about the Easy lounge and think its - for lack of a better word- fucked up the way that they treated you. I think that you definately have a right to be infuriated and to not want to return but i must share with you the goo that i have experieced @ Easy lounge.

My first time going, a month ago, i found myself among nothing but folks. Considering that i find myself to be most attracted to black men, it was a great place to be. lol. The people were lively, the music was a hit and, most importantly in this scenario, the bartender was friendly, handome and his name was not Brian. Jacques, the bartender, was black and very courteous. Inbetween shifts he asked me for a dance and when he had to return to the bar, he quickly poured me a shot at no cost.

Even though i recieved this special treatment because i was a pretty girl in a tight dress, the whole atmosphere was nice and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. I doubt that you will be getting free drinks from a handsome black guy with a foreign name, but if you go there on the right night, or maybe in the right spirits, im sure that Jacques and hopefully the rest of the -possibly new- staff will also be kind and cool to you.

I hope my story changes your mind and if not that, makes you feel better about the Easy lounge, knowing that they don't treat all thier customers of color like shit. (or maybe the workers of color dont treat thier own like shit, but either way theres hope).

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