Chili’s restaurant had to apologize to a Black veteran yesterday. After the national chain restaurant offered free meals to Veterans, for the Veterans Day holiday, U.S. Army veteran Ernest Walker patronized a Chili’s in Cedar Hills, Texas. An elderly Donald Trump supporter said “he was in Germany, and that they did not let Blacks serve over there” so the manager questioned Walker and took his food away. However, according to the company’s CEO Wyman T. Roberts “discounting is hurting revenue”. Did Brinker International (EAT) investors want to end the November freebie?
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According to the Huffington Post, Walker said the restaurant’s manager approached him and said that a fellow customer said Walker was “not a real soldier because [he] had [his] hat on indoors.” He asked to see identification, and continued to question Walker. Eventually, he took his food away, even though Walker showed him his military ID and discharge paperwork.
Is this the type of treatment Blacks can look forward to under a Donald Trump presidency?
As a Black woman, who patronizes the Chili’s in my community of Inglewood, CA, which will be in close proximity to the new NFL stadium, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the relationship.
Inglewood Unified School District parent groups, of which this author is chair of one, regularly use Chili’s for fundraisers. Perhaps that should change too.
According to The Street:
Back in January of this year, shares of Brinker International (EAT) , which operates over 1,300 Mexican-themed Chili’s and Italian-themed Maggiano’s restaurants in the U.S., touched a 52-week low on Dec. 3 of $43.20. The stock has since rebounded about 6.5%. But months of intense discounting in the restaurant industry has pressured Brinker’s sales and continues to weigh on the minds of investors.
Expressing “regret” isn’t enough Chili’s. Is the manager doing as ordered to pacify investors or is he a closeted racist that should be fired?
