A patron at an Atlanta cheesesteak spot says she was racially profiled, but the owner says it was an honest mistake that should never have happened.
Nationally syndicated radio host and gospel artist Darlene Jackson McCoy says after ordering a vegetable cheesesteak at Woody’s Cheesesteaks in the Buckhead neighborhood of north Atlanta, she noticed the cashier wrote a historically racial slur next to the section that should have said her name.
The ticket read “Darky,” prompting her to go on Instagram and share her outrage.
“I just had a very racist situation happen to be me right here in Buckhead,” Jackson McCoy said in the clip.
As she details the account, she recalls how she reacted when she saw the digital receipt that said “Darky” and not “Darlene.” When she asked the person who took her order why he would place that on the order, he told her not to worry about it and that it was for his own information.
She pushed, saying that she wanted him to change her name, but the worker refused.
“I don’t want to be called Darky, so cancel my order or give me my money back,” she said. Jackson McCoy said the man refused, allegedly saying, “I’m not doing that. I don’t give money back. I don’t give refunds.”
Determined not to make a scene, she waited for her order. When he called her, he said her name but according to Jackson McCoy in an aggressive but mocking way.
The woman went to the counter and picked up her order and asked for a physical copy of the receipt. At first, he refused, inferring she was making a big deal out of nothing.
According to Jackson McCoy, the employee said, “It’s nothing. I mean I just put Darky for my just for me.”
Once again, she explained that she was offended by the word being attributed to her, saying, “I’m a Black woman. That is extremely insensitive, and I asked you to change it. You told me you wouldn’t change it. I asked you to give me my money back because I don’t even want the food. You said you don’t give refunds.”
More than 1,700 people responded to the video on Jackson McCoy’s Instagram page where she urged the public to take action against the restaurant.
Gospel superstar Fred Hammond was one of the supporters encouraging her to take a stand, writing, “Don’t let him slide with that!!! Make as big a stink as you can?”
“I’m pissed off for you. I’ve experienced this sort of racism/bigotry before in ATL & it’s so infuriating & hurtful! Boycott their business! Hit them where it hurts the most— in their pockets,” wrote one user. “Who knows if adding “DARKY” to the ticket is some secret code they have amongst each other to tamper w/ the food in a gross way! They should be heavily penalized.”
Many went to Yelp.com and blasted the business in the comments section and with their ratings.
So many people flooded Yelp that the website placed a Public Attention Alert saying: “This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content.”
“While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with).”
Woody’s owner Steven Renner released a statement, according to Fox 5, saying, “First and foremost, I’m sorry to Darlene about the experience Darlene had today. It’s not what we’re about at Woody’s. We’re about inclusivity, diversity. We’re about respect for everybody.”
“He uses abbreviations a lot…he was typing the name ‘Darly.’ Unfortunately, the ‘K’ and the ‘L’ are next to each other. He simply hit the ‘K’ instead of the ‘L,'” he said.
The employee is Hispanic, according to the owner.
“I think he does the best he can taking drink orders, sandwich orders, but a lot of the rest was lost… there’s never been an experience like this before,” Renner continued.
The business also issued a corporate statement. It read, “At Woody’s Cheesesteaks, we care deeply about treating all guests with respect. Recently a guest experienced an incident that was not aligned with the values our business upholds and the service our customers expect. Through an internal investigation, we did find the incident resulted by mistake; nevertheless, it should not have. We have apologized to the customer, issued a refund and are actively working with our staff to ensure this does not occur again.”
The radio host has not publicly said if she has accepted the company’s explanation or apology. Jackson McCoy has hired an attorney and is exploring legal options. She said that the incident made her feel disrespected and as though her dollar was not respected.
“I’m very sick of racism in this society. I’m sick of it,” she said in the Instagram video.
