It’s all about branding.
At least that is what a bar in Baton Rouge, Louisiana claims after being accused of blatant racism.
Reggie’s is a bar in an area called Tigerland in Baton Rouge that is a popular area for LSU students to hang.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLDipXJKplo |
| This is the stamp black students are subjected to at Reggie’s, a bar in Tigerland that is popular with LSU students. |
Now some black people will tell you they’ve been discriminated against as they’ve attempted to enter a bar. It is always masked in the form of a dress code. You know, no baggy clothes, no visible tattoos, no white sneakers, etc.
Reggie’s already has rankled students with their corny dress code, but student Taylor Ward was stunned when she saw the stamp on her hand after she entered the bar last week. Apparently, each week on a particular night, patrons’ hands are stamped after they enter the venue.
When Ward looked at her stamp, she noticed the stamp read “Reggin.” When you view the word backwards, it spells out “nigger.”
According to representatives for Reggie’s, the bar has been stamping patrons with the word for the past ten years. Management for Reggie’s said the word is a nod to the action of “Reggin,” which locals supposedly say to describe hanging out at the dive bar.
Reggie’s hasn’t been the safest or most welcoming place. Just a simple search of the bar’s name brings back negative reviews, most centering around racism. In 2014, two patrons were shot in the parking lot of the bar during a party that was attended by members of the LSU football team.
Should we mention the Confederate flag that hangs on the wall in the bar?
“The bar is designed to make white people feel comfortable by discriminating against black people,” students Clarke Perkins, Jack Richards, Justin DiCharia, Jay Cranford, Garrett Hines and Cody Sibley said in an opinion piece for the LSU Reveille.
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| Reggie’s Bar |
“Aside from the institutionally racist dress code, Reggie’s’ Confederate flag sends a not-so-subtle hint to make LSU’s black community feel unwelcomed,” the students wrote.
Before the image of the racist stamp Reggie’s uses hit YouTube, the owner of the bar attempted to defend his actions.
Darin Adams is the owner of the bar and a LSU alum. He claimed that the dress code was meant to keep undesirables from entering his bar and causing trouble, including drunk white Frat boys.
The head of the NAACP at LSU begged to differ.
“You can literally take one white boy and one black boy, dress them in the same outfit and watch the black boy be denied access,” said LSU NAACP President Cimajie Best. “I’ve seen it happen.”
Angry students of all races stop short of calling for a boycott of the establishment. However, a strongly added opinion piece urged LSU students to reconsider the establishments they patronize in Tigerland.
“Let’s all acknowledge the problems with Tigerland’s dress codes, and ask ourselves how we feel about frequenting its bars so often,” wrote the LSU Reveille Editorial Board.
