News
‘D.P. No’ Brings C.U. Students to Noyes
October 2, 2007 - 11:00pmStudents gathered last night at Noyes Community Recreation Center on West Campus to discuss a race-related incident that occurred at an Ithaca restaurant last month. On Sept. 18, four female Cornell students from the black and Latino communities claim that they were victims of racism after two white men allegedly verbally harassed them inside D.P. Dough.
The gathering was originally intended to protest D.P. Dough, since the restaurant was planning to distribute free food as part of Noyes’s Take Out Tuesday! Program.
However, before the event could take place, Noyes’s staff rescinded its invitation to D.P. Dough. A sign on the door of Noyes read: “Tonight’s Take out Tuesday Noyes will be serving College Town Pizza. Noyes is not in partnership with D.P. Dough and will not be continuing any kind of business in the future.”
Students at the discussion expressed their agreement with Cornell’s decision to ban D.P. Dough from the take-out program.
A senior who works at the Cornell Fitness Center in Noyes said, “I’m very glad Noyes decided not to have D.P. Dough because [Noyes] wanted to respect the students.”
Shakeema Manning ’10, one of the four women involved in the incident, addressed the crowd, saying, “Support Noyes because they supported us.”
Students distributed a statement prepared by Christine Baptiste-Perez ’10, another woman involved in the incident, describing the confrontation at D.P. Dough.
“I’m so happy Noyes won’t order from D.P. Dough,” said Baptiste-Perez. She continued by saying that she hoped word of the incident would spread throughout the Cornell, Ithaca College, Tompkins County Community College and Ithaca communities.
Rachel Mack ’10 came to the event upon leaving the gym at Noyes. After reading the statement, she said, “I think it’s really sad that something so heinous and racist could happen so close to a major academic community where we promote diversity.”
“I’m here to fight for equality,” said Jeriann Collymore ’11, who came to Noyes with her friend Nina Daoud ’11.
“There’s always strength in numbers,” Daoud said.
Baptiste-Perez was hoping for D.P. Dough to give “an apology to us, and all their customers.” She said that the white men remained inside the restaurant until a police officer came to question them. Meanwhile, four police officers remained outside with the women.
Manning claimed that the restaurant was racist because “we were the only ones they kicked out . . . Everyone should have been made to leave.”
Bahirah Adewunmi ’10, another of the four women, described the event as “favoritism that escalated into racism.”
One of the men who verbally assaulted the students was a former employee of the restaurant, according to Edward Riethe, a co-owner of D.P. Dough.
Adewunmi claimed that the manager accepted the racist tone of the men as they referred to her and her companions as “ignorant-ass hos,” among other names. “Even if they were friends, [the manager] didn’t have to agree with their views,” she said.
Although their statements did not include any race-specific words, the women maintain that it was a racist incident.
“Ho is the new female n-word,” said Adewunmi. “It goes back to hip-hop [language] and what happened at Rutgers … If not racist, [the incident] was at least sexist.”
Baptiste-Perez claims that although the situation at D.P. Dough appears to be an isolated incident at Cornell, bias-related issues affect all members of the campus community. “This affects people of every race, sex, sexual preference and religion,” she said. “People need to be aware of this because people are letting things pass over. These things need to come to light so something can be done. Real progress can’t happen if stories are hidden.”
DP Dough - Response
To Whom It May Concern:
We at DP Dough hope that people are interested in the TRUTH of what happened the night of September 18, 2007. For this reason alone, we are giving you a play by play of the situation that occurred that night. In addition, we encourage anyone who wants to verify the actual FACTS to exercise their right under the freedom of information law to see the Ithaca Police Department’s official report.
We hope this resolves any confusion about how the events unfolded that night.
Approximately 1:30am the assistant store manager was in the back office when she heard screaming. She went to the front of the store to see what was going on an saw four females screaming at two males at the doorway to the store. She told everyone to calm down in an effort to keep the peace. She was then screamed at by one of the females for in her words “condoning” the situation. After being screamed at and after the females refused to quiet down after several warnings, the assistant manager called the police, as our policies and procedures dictate for this type of problem. Upon the police arrival, they calmed the situation down and everyone went their separate ways.
As far as the two males being former employees, that is in incorrect statement. One of the males involved was a former employee for a brief period who happened to be eating at the store that night. They were not acquaintances with the assistant manager on duty. In fact, the former employee had his employment terminated at DP Dough for attendance problems by the very same management staff last year. He has not been employed by DP Dough in approximately one year.
DP Dough does not condone any discrimination or harassment in any shape or form. No such discrimination or harassment has ever been alleged or reported against DP Dough. Should any instances of discrimination or harassment at any level be found, that employee would be terminated at once. In addition the matter would immediately be forwarded to the police for investigation should it appear any laws may have been broken.
In short, I sincerely apologize that these customers had a bad experience at DP Dough. Unfortunately, as in any business, we are not able to verify the backgrounds or question customers personal views prior to serving them food. If we see a situation that seems like it is escalating, it is our policy to immediately call the police BEFORE such incidents get out of hand. This is to protect ALL parties involved, as well as our employees, and innocent customers/bystanders.
Should these customers feel we handled this situation in any less than a professional and courteous manner to everyone involved, I would encourage them to contact me directly as soon as possible, rather than publish outright slanderous lies about our establishment that has been part of the diverse Ithaca community for over 10 years.
-Joel Rosenthal
co-Owner, DP Dough
joel.rosenthal@dpdough.com
DP Dough
I was a minority student and enjoyed many meals at DP Dough and never encountered any problems during my time in Ithaca. From what I've read (and it's been somewhat limited), the altercation appears to have occured between 2 sets of customers at the establishment. I'm sure that DP Dough aims to provide a safe, enjoyable environment for all its patrons, and to place complete blame on the restaurant seems a bit ludicrous. The real perpetrators are the customers who mouthed the hateful words, not the restaurant.
Complete blame is not placed on D.P. Dough
I think you are confused. No one is completely blaming D.P. Dough for the actions of its white drunk patrons. People are blaming D.P. Dough for their inadequate and unprofessional response to the situation. Those are two very different things.
More Details
Though you asserted you would be giving a play-by-play of the facts, it seems your version of the story has left out some important facts. Hopefully, you will come back and address them.
For one, were BOTH parties asked to leave the scene or were the young ladies (who felt threatened) asked to leave the premises?
Did the men actually leave the premises before the police came?
For another, did the police officer ever mention the manager's ethnic background to the ladies? If so (and given that the event was not as you say "racially motivated") what reason did the police have for mentioning this fact?
your mom
as far as i can tell the people who actually did something wrong are getting off free because people want to hate on some delicious calazones. how sad.
So Why is This "News"?
...It certainly isn't because of racism. The subtext of this story is that there are four girls who want some attention and are going about it in the most underhanded way possible. They are probably upset that two uncouth individuals made some inappropriate comment to them and they feel like this action must be avenged. Of course, since it is not illegal for these two men to make such comments, these girls, having no one to make into a villain, turn to D.P. Dough.
The sad news for these girls is that nobody ever gave them a guarantee coming into this world that they would not be exposed to questionably racist remarks, and that everyone would be nice to them. D.P. Dough is not at fault for asking them to leave while they were probably throwing a fit because someone had called them something "if not racist... at least sexist."
I hope these girls will eventually realize that they can benefit the community a great deal more by volunteering at or donating to a local community organization than by committing acts of libel. Granted, it won't get your name in the paper, but at least it will give you something to put on your application for grad school.
Secondly, The Cornell Daily Sun should be mentioned for their reporting of the matter. Congratulations! I scarcely come across such monumental feats of intellectual laziness. A quick second read through the story will show exactly what it took to put this story together:
A reporter was sent to Noyes to cover the shenanigans taking place, interviewed the girls involved, and took a look around. But that was just the beginning... the reporter actually took the time to seek out other reputable sources - the Fitness Center attendant who just happened to be working at that time, and a random girl leaving the gym! And after a few seconds of looking at the propaganda strewn around, what insightful (or at least quotable) things these two people had to say.
The only thing that could have made the story more solid... was to try to get the other side of it. The article makes no mention of even attempting to contact the D.P. Dough employees who were there on the night of the incident. Of course, what was the reporter expected to do? That kind of research takes time, and the poor kid probably had a paper due or a prelim to study for. What is really more important - a good grade in sociology, or a local business, which caters to college students, being untruthfully stamped as racist on the front page of a freely distributed student newspaper? Hmmm. Maybe we should ask an ethics professor.