Digby has a modern day tale of discrimination up:
We were detained by security as we attempted to enter the store and were told we had to leave. Dogs weren't allowed. We asked to see the manager who arrived after some delay and who grudgingly admitted us to the store but only after we made it clear that the right to travel with a guide dog is protected by both federal and state laws and that this right pertains to private businesses as well as the subway system. The store's manager was mean spirited and he offered us no apology. He simply walked away.
I wonder Dr. Paul if you can imagine what it felt like to be so thoroughly humiliated in a store. People watched as we conversed politely with the security guard and the manager, but they were looking for drama, as if the proscenium arch of the sixth avenue Barnes & Noble was just another diversion. Dr. Paul have you ever had your rights questioned in public?
The article from Planet of the Blindknocks it out of the park.
Here is my minor tale:
I make sails for racing sail boats, and I race to demo the sail's worth. I like racing outside San Francisco Bay in the Midget Ocean Racing Association (MORA) for boats under 30 feet. The Saint Francis Yacht Club lends their race deck to MORA/OYRA (Ocean Yacht Racing Association) to start and finish the ocean races. Part of the race preparation is a Skipper's Meeting where the weather conditions, safety issues, and other info (are all the marks of the course in place?) are discussed, a Coast Guard mandated legal requirement for holding an ocean race.
So the race chairman gets to Saint Francis to set up for the skipper's meeting. The Race Chair was directed to the bar where the meetings are held. The bartender would not let the Race Chair set up for the meeting and the Chair was asked to leave. The Race Chair says it is a mandatory, legal meeting that must be held. Telephone calls were made. The race chair was causing a disturbance. The manager shows up. Coast Guard required meeting. More telephone calls. The Race Chair asked them to post this sign in the bar:
The Skipper's Meeting
For the MORA/OYRA Farallons Race
Will be held in the Ladies Room
9:00 a.m.
At 8:59 a.m. the "Gentlemen Only" sign on the bar got "lost" and the meeting was held in the Gentlemen Only bar. One thing the St. Francis had was members who were lawyers who had read the Coast Guard Rules regulations for races. Of course the sign came back after the meeting, and there are many more stories about women being ejected from the club, but it is not a problem these days because the Saint Francis Yacht Club . . . is on city property.
Every time I go into the previously Gentlemen Only bar I am reminded that but for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, I would not be allowed to go into the bar.