A Black couple celebrating an anniversary was kicked out of an upscale Memphis steak house after another customer reportedly used a racial slur.
“Just be the bigger person, dude,” a restaurant worker told Deshun Fletcher in video of the incident ABC 24 posted online Sunday.
Fletcher and his wife, Renee Fletcher, were at a local Ruth’s Chris Steak House when a white man eating at the restaurant called the couple and relative they were at the restaurant with the N-word, Deshun Fletcher told ABC 24.
He took out his phone and started recording moments after the man, who reportedly runs a large ambulance company in the area, used the derogatory term, according to ABC 24.
“This white boy right here dun called us some (expletives), and he still sitting right there,” Deshun said in the recording. “These folks ain’t did s–t about this man.”
“White boy sitting right here,” the man who reportedly used the slur said in the video.
“You better be glad yo ass ain’t in South Memphis,” Deshun responded. “If you weren’t out with these white folks, your ass would be (expletive).”
Deshun told ABC 24 after the incident that he’s speaking out so no one else has to go through what he went through.
“It’s like it was a push or slap to the face,” Deshun said.
He called the situation “sad.”
“It’s 2019,” he said. “We shouldn’t be going through this.”
Although it’s unclear if the situation has resulted in legal action, Deshun has consulted his attorney, Andre Wharton, according to ABC 24.
“We believe obviously some things could have been handled drastically different by the restaurant, whether or not management should have stepped in sooner,” Wharton told the news outlet.
“Why is my client, his wife, his cousin and the cousin’s wife asked to be a bigger person,” the attorney asked.
Ruth’s Chris said in a statement ABC 24 obtained that the restaurant does “not condone hate speech or intolerance.”
“Our goal is to deliver a dining experience that is inclusive and welcoming, and while this was an altercation between guests, we are taking this situation very seriously and investigating,” the restaurant said.
