Family Allegedly Discriminated Against Speaks at Protest of Tuscaloosa Restaurant
Monday July 29th, a group of at least 20 people gathered at an empty Nick's location in Tuscaloosa. The protest follows a viral video showing the results of reportedly the owner of Nick's making a racist comment to patrons.
Protesters held signs in support of the family seen in the viral video. One sign read "Justice is what love looks like in public."
Tray Dunn, the man who originally posted the video to Facebook and Youtube said that he posted the video that someone sent to him saying "I know you can get this video seen."
Since that video has been posted, it has been viewed on Youtube more than 34k times, and on Facebook with close to 1k comments and 3k shares at the time of writing this article.
"This is about Awareness. We went in here to celebrate some birthdays," said Torlento Wilson, who was present on Friday July 26th at Nick's.
"We had a reservation for 6p, it seems like they were trying to push our reservation back to see if we were going to leave."
Another unidentified gentleman who was in the party of 11 said they waited two full hours for their seats.
"I am a victim of what happened on Friday. It's disheartening, it's sickening," said Rhonda Wilson.
"We know [racism] is alive and well but never never did we think we'd have to encounter it."
While holding a sign that read "Love knows no color," Torlento Wilson said,"We want the community to stand behind us. We're not out here to go white against black, we just want to be heard. Not just for us, for everybody that goes through this."
Torlento Wilson said at this moment three city officials have reached out to the family. This officials are Kip Tyner, Cassius Lanier and Matthew Wilson.
They're "working tirelessly to help us out," said Torlento Wilson.
"I encourage every citizen to google the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," said Barbara Carter who is a Certified Human Rights Consultant with the United States Institute of Diplomacy in Human Rights. "That man's rights ended when he violated those patrons' rights," said Carter.
I don't know what to think, how to think, I just know I need to take a stand along with my family," said Rhonda Wilson.
When asked what's the goal of these protests that are planned to happen daily, Torlento Wilson said, "We want them shut down. You as an owner should not be behind the bar drinking, being belligerent."
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (7/22 - 7/29)
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
All Homicides Investigated in Tuscaloosa County in 2024
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (7/15 - 7/22)
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)