Why Is This Different?

Imagine, if you will, a Black man walking into a coffee shop and being asked to leave because the owner feels "uncomfortable having him in the shop.  Lawsuits would abound, his shop would be picketed by every group in town and rightfully so.  You just can't do that type of thing in America in 2010 -- unless it's a cop.

PORTLAND, Ore. - A Portland police officer says he doesn’t take it personally that he was kicked out of a cafe where he had stopped to get a coffee.

Officer James Crooker told The Oregonian he was surprised he was asked to leave the Red and Black cafe but understands it was hostility directed at his uniform.

Co-owner John Langley says he asked the officer to leave May 18 because he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe, which is frequented by the homeless, environmental and animal rights activists.

Why is it different?  Why can you not discriminate against one group, but have no problem discriminating against an other?

The Red and Black Cafe is no ordinary coffee shop.  They are unabashedly left-wing extremists.  They are a capitalist operation (for profit) raging against the very system that gives them their existence.

Wonder what would happen if their store was robbed?  Who would they call?

VW

Comments

[John Hampton]

I've witnessed that sort of thing before and I, as well as everyone else there, knew beyond any doubt that the discomfort and anxiety experienced by the patrons was due to the fact that some of the regular customers there had proclivities for engaging in illegal activities such as possessing, using, or dealing illicit drugs. Yeah, it's bad for business. Particularly for a business which caters to criminals.

[Violence Worker]

Remember when cops were welcome in coffee shops? But yeah, I wouldn't doubt there are some illegal things going on behind the scenes. Not saying there is, I'm just sayin'.

VW

[Bloviating Zeppelin]

This is so sad. On the other hand, I believe I'd do just what the manager asked if this were MY district: avoid that store like the plague. And its immediate surroundings. They would DEFINITELY NOT see much of me in Patrol.

BZ