Yesterday Mescaline Franklin and I went out on the Poor Tour, to two suburban bars tucked away at the end of two dying streets, beneath a railroad track. The bars will remain unnamed and are fifty feet apart. Two years ago the larger bar was frequented by a mixed-race crowd and there were numerous stabbings, two related shootings nearby, a parking lot rape and an exodus of the law abiding clientele.
As we walked up to the front of the larger bar an angry, middle-aged, black man was outside and needed an ear to gripe into. He was so angry that he had a hard time gathering his cigarette to place between his two missing teeth on the top front left of his mouth. Noticing the pristine state of the rest of his dentition, I decided that he was long in the habit of speaking angrily.
He said, “A nosey muthafuca piss me off. A nosey muthafuca always pluck my nerve. They ain’t nothin’ good ‘bout a nosey muthafuca. A nosey muthafuca gonna git you killed. Nosey muthafuca eyeballin’ me, in my bidness, askin’ me where I from! I hates me a nosey muthafuca!”
I said, “Are you coming in for a drink?”
For answer he gave a grumble and lit up as we entered to see about a half dozen middle-aged mechanics, two older men, and two young tattooed rednecks. A hag, a hard woman, a slut, and a barmaid, who looked like she could have been the plaything of a blind mobster, rounded out the denizens.
We had a nice stay at both places and I took note of the measures taken to make certain that blacks do not want to spend time there.
1. Available music is limited to rock, metal and country
2. There is no beer on tap
3. Miller beer is not sold
4. Malt liquor is not sold
5. Iced drinks are not sold—you drink your liquor straight. Blacks even ice their beer. Not having ice is a huge affront to a black bar patron.
6. The bar that had beer on tap only had Bud and Coors light, no regional cut-rate beer like National Bohemian.
7. There are signs posted that no foul language will be tolerated, which excludes virtually all African American dialogue.
8. The bar with tap beer opens early and closes early: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
9. The bar that stays open late is owned by a woman who employs a Latino manger, so that no white employee will have to command blacks to leave for cussing or violence and bring a discrimination charge. Besides, Blacks tend to a virulent hatred of Latinos, as demonstrated by the man outside.
10. The TV programming in the large, late bar is set for law enforcement reality shows, baseball and racing.
James,
Having been employed by a variety to of bars of the upper and lower class variety. I have seen a variety of the methods that taverns etc. will employ to dissuade those of a darker hue that worship at the alter of hip-hop and other idiocy.
There are a few additions to the list of items that bars in Baltimore will exclude if they do not wish to attract a certain clientele.
These are:
Hennessy or Cognac in general. The same goes for cognac derived liquors—Hypnotic, or Remy Red. The only cognac based spirit that does not have a big following amongst the crowd we speak of is Grand Marnier ( A Nero winter time favorite).
Ciroc. A vodka made by a hip-hop impresario.
Any of the fruit flavored malt liquor beverages.
Wild Irish Rose.
Heineken.
Apple flavored Crown Royal.
Anything that is sung about in lyrics to hip hop that is currently popular.
A few years ago it was Grey Goose, Moet before that, then later on Patron. All directly correlated to placement in popular "music".
I have even known owners of bars to seriously entertain the idea of not selling carryout beer etc. In order to not deal with the element.
On the food front:
Wings.
Honey Mustard.
Ranch Dressing.
Chicken Caesar salad.
Shrimp Cocktail.
Fruit punch.
Sweetened Iced Tea.
On the audio visual front:
It is important to not play any hip hop of either the old-school or new school.
I worked with a guy for years that used to play eighties hip hop etc. We developed quite a following. A non tipping shit starting following (If I had a nickel for every time some donkey would tell me "dis' drank ain't sweet enough" or that her paramour would approach glowering "I cain't taste da alcohol" I'd be well off . This following was driving our good regulars away (white and black). As an experiment he stopped with his usual playlist one friday evening....Within about two weeks we got our old regulars back and fights were a rarity.
I have once or twice started playing "Okie from Muskogee" when I didn't like the composition of my clientele. I have even resorted to Kenny G. Works every time.
Miscellaneous:
Get rid of the Lotto machine.
Same goes for check cashing.
Take out the TV.
Employ Black or Latino Security. If I were in Ireland I would hire Irish bouncers...When in Baltimore you hire security from the ranks of who is likely to be your biggest problem. When racial dynamics get chucked into a volatile alcohol fueled situation—things get worse. If your doorman is of minority status he can't be made to be seen as a racist. In the same vein in Baltimore I would hire mixed race mixed gender teams of bartenders (save for the nastiest of spots where by all rights I would hire a sausage party aka a strictly male staff).
A question. I've been recently rewatching "The Wire". Does the show match reality much? I really enjoyed that show. I doubt they'll ever do another show like it as the forced Negro everywhere on TV effect means people will refuse to see shows with even more Negros on.
Sam, The Wire was extremely accurate, so much so that the Mayor refused to let them film another season. I was amazed how well the British actors did with the dialect. The guys sitting out on the discarded furniture is something I see all the time.
I know a bar I used to go to and somehow it got to be Africanized. I went in and thought,"Damn this, I'm in the wrong place and left". Mind you this was near a College. The guy said he lost a fortune as they wouldn't buy drinks. Just hang around and cause trouble. He just started charging a $5 cover charge for all Blacks. I don't know how he got away with it but it worked.