Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Politics/National
NationalNewsRace

Black Students Allege They Were Forced to Prepay for Meal At Ohio Restaurant, Owner Responds 

Posted byBy Tia Berger | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Royal Grill

Black students from Youngstown State University in Ohio, were reportedly told to pay for their meals upfront or else they wouldn’t be served.

A Youngstown student by the name of Samora Savage, told Vindicator Newspaper she and a group of friends and classmates went to the Royal Grill Buffet in the suburb of Boardman and was asked to prepay for their meal. The issue began when students noticed other customers were paying after their meal.

Savage asked the manager why she and her friends were singled out, and the manager reportedly replied, “You people steal.”

She and her friends were astounded by his response and say they “couldn’t believe the way we were treated there.”

Jay Dong, the Royal Grill manager confessed that he does make some people pay beforehand and the majority of the customers that do are Black. However, he doesn’t believe his policies are racist.

“A lot of people steal from me. If I don’t know them, and they all pay together and they try to run, I can usually catch one person and make them pay the bill. But if they all pay separate and they run out, I can’t catch everyone”, he told the Vindicator.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top