Alleged Harassment at D.P. Dough Sparks Controversy
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D.P. Dough and the Ithaca Police Department are at the center of controversy this week amid allegations of racial prejudice against members of the black student community.
The controversy stems from a Sept. 18 incident at the downtown Ithaca restaurant, when Christine Baptiste-Perez ’10 and three friends, all women, were allegedly harassed while eating a late-night meal. At around 1:30 a.m., two white men entered the restaurant and allegedly began verbally assaulting the four women, all of whom attend Cornell and are of African descent, with sexist and racist remarks. The confrontation escalated to an argument, and the restaurant manager soon called police after the parties involved refused to leave the premises. Ithaca police officers arrived and, according to Baptiste-Perez, told the four women that neither the manager of D.P. Dough nor the two customers had done anything wrong.
Baptiste-Perez, though, was not convinced. Alleging that the restaurant manager should not have asked her and her friends to leave the premises and that the responding officers were unattentive to her complaint of racial prejudice, the Cornell sophomore took her case to a variety of student advocacy groups on campus, including Black Students United.
“The police department is supposed to make us feel safe, but they just seemed like they didn’t care,” Baptiste-Perez said.
According to BSU President Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo ’08, the incident involved elements of both racism and sexism on the part of the restaurant and the IPD that need to be addressed.
“When you hear phrases these two men used [like ignorant-ass hoes], they are usually directed at females of color,” Lumumba-Kasongo said. “D.P. Dough [subsequently] treated its customers like objects, not people, and the IPD showed a [lack of concern] for the incident.”
Tonight’s protest, she continued, will be the first in a series of actions directed at D.P. Dough and the IPD. The campaign, she said, will aim to combat the “disrespect shown by the restaurant to its customers” and the subsequent behavior of the responding officers, who “dismissed the gravity of the situation [irresponsibly].”
D.P. Dough, though, sees the incident differently. According to Ed Rieth, a co-owner of the restaurant, the manager on duty did exactly what she was supposed to do in response to the argument.
“We tell all [our managers], ‘Get it off the property if there’s an argument,’” Rieth said. “She told everybody to leave, no one left, so she called the cops.”
Rieth said he did not believe any of the comments made by the two white customers were motivated by race and maintained that his manager acted without regard to race or gender.
“The males accused the females of being ‘ignorant hoes,’” he said. “How is that racist?”
For its part, the IPD said in a statement to The Sun that it has begun an internal review of the incident.
“The IPD is following up on this matter,” stated Deputy Chief of Police John Barber. “We are conducting an internal review which includes the district attorney’s office, the mayor and the human resource director’s office, and the officers involved. The IPD is committed to the fair and equitable treatment of all citizens.”
Baptiste-Perez and her friends brought their complaint to groups like BSU and Ken Glover, her residence hall director at Ujamaa, just days before the black student community held a rally for the Jena Six on Ho Plaza. The rally was organized in support of six black high school students accused of beating a white teenager in the small town of Jena, La., a case that has garnered national attention for its racial overtones and perceived racial prejudice. Cases like the Jena Six, Baptiste-Perez said, encouraged her to bring her own experience into the open.
“I don’t want this to blow over,” she said. “People need to be aware that things like this still happen in the United States.”
With the BSU at the lead, the black student community has drafted a letter to President David J. Skorton highlighting a number of racially-motivated acts of prejudice in Ithaca and across the United States.
Among them includes the Sept. 18 incident at D.P. Dough as well as an ongoing case of alleged racial bias in the Ithaca school district.
The letter urges Skorton to “address the Cornell student body and make them aware that Cornell University will not stand idle in the face of racial discrimination.”
According to Lumumba-Kasongo, the Sept. 18 incident at D.P. Dough is even more relevant in light of these other acts of racial prejudice.
“We’re seeing grassroots activism,” said Lumumba-Kasongo, “but we’re not really feeling the pressures from above, from the administration and from the institution itself. By keeping people aware, we hope to affect some real change.”
Personal Responsibility
Where does personal responsibility fall? I fail to see why IPD and DP Dough are the subject of this article. Because the police weren't nice to them? They got a call for an argument and they had to keep the peace... that is their job, not giving people hugs. What about the two stupid ignorant people who made the comments in the first place?
How about some personal responsibility? Why don't we hold a rally in front of the two verbally absuive and harassing peoples houses and fight to have stupid people with no purpose removed from the area all together?
There are plenty of white people, myself included, who have friends in all different races, sexes, national origins, sexual orientations, financial backgrounds. They are all the same to me.
Lets not forget that there are some good people out there. Go after the the ones that wronged you, not the ones who tried to help by calling the police to stop an argument as DP Dough did, or answering the call to calm everyone down and keep the peace, as the ithaca police did.
I read the article, and am
I read the article, and am slightly confused why DP Dough is in the wrong. All they did was ask people who were arguing to leave and then called the police to remove the parties involved out of their private business when they refused to vacate the premise. How are they in the wrong? Am I not just getting it?
Also, IPD restored the peace (their job) and calmed everyone down. I don't condone the actions of the two jackasses who came in and started everything..but I'm also concerned about the perceptions by those who've become involved...namely:
“When you hear phrases these two men used [like ignorant-ass hoes], they are usually directed at females of color,” Lumumba-Kasongo said. “D.P. Dough [subsequently] treated its customers like objects, not people, and the IPD showed a [lack of concern] for the incident.”
Should the BSU leaders be condoning the association of their female constituents with the words "hoe" and "ignorant"? Maybe that's the story to talk about...
The Underlying Issues
This D.P. Dough incident is disturbing to me primarily because of the underlying issues. I am assuming for the purposes of this article, that some details were left out. For one, the white men who harassed the young ladies were former employees of D.P. Dough. Sometime during the discussion, an excuse was made (either by the policemen or by the manager of D.P. Dough who knew the harassers) that the men were nice guys, just drunk, and didn't mean anything by their comments or inappropriate gestures. At one point, the Officers even mentioned to the harassed young ladies that the manager of D.P. Dough comes from a "diverse" background. I am assuming this was supposed to dilute the situation or possibly imply to the harassed women that if their "diverse" manager was not reacting in a negative manner, there was no need for the ladies to react in a negative manner.
The most important parts of the story are that 1) A group was harassed and then placed on the streets. I do not think it is unreasonable to expect the companies we frequent to escort disrespectful patrons from the premises. If anything, D.P. Dough should have insisted the belligerent men leave the premises and then assist the harassed ladies with calling the police. If a group of ladies feels threatened, it make absolutely no sense to kick them out of the security of a building when they themselves did nothing to create the confrontational situation. 2) The response of the police was not acceptable. Their job is not to simply quell arguments, but to promote justice. This they did not do when they initially refused to even report the incident and instead told the ladies that the D.P. Dough manager was diverse.
D.P. Dough is not (as some poster replied) being targeted for the actions of their white patrons/former employees. They are being targeted for their inappropriate actions and inappropriate response to the situation. Their favoritism towards their employees and thus their condonation of their actions makes them a company we should no longer frequent or financially support. Finally, the poster's reply that he/she has minority friends is highly irrelevant to the situation. Unless the poster was one of the harassers and is merely attempting to explain his rationale.
in defense of DP Dough, I am
in defense of DP Dough, I am a former employee of the Cortland store and never once have I come back in and harassed any customers. If anything, I was harassed when I worked there BY customers. And yes, arguments happened because of bias, and yes, the parties involved were asked to leave, but never once was it acceptable to insist to the patron that THEY were in the wrong or overreacting.
If anything, this situation should serve as a lesson for utopians of ithaca who believe their little slice of heaven is perfect. There are so many things wrong with the town, and this just adds to the amalgum. perhaps, rather than focus on the subject of offensive and disrespectful behavior, we should question the motives of government and the police force. If they were not going to initially report the situation, what does that gain the city? Just another cover-up to make it look like everything's okay.
Am I disillusioned? No, this is realism. None of you understand how this looks from the outside. Yes, some girls were harassed, yes the police force was impotent in their resolution, but the real problem lies in how this will effect the city. This just proves to tourists that ithaca is not special, it is not safe, the police don't care about your concerns, and your rights as a human being are not honored.
racism and sexism
As with any other form of media, the Daily Sun did not fully represent either side of the controversy. This story is not and does not claim to be an exact account of the events that transpired I have personally heard from the ladies involved in this incident and many facts are missing. In my opinion the bottom line is that four young ladies from the Cornell Community felt disrespected and harassed and the motivation behind the insults were based on race and gender. The management of DP Dough and IPD did not respond in a way that was understanding of their complaints. Instead of making the victims feel safe, they questioned their rights to be offended and intimidated them even more. Anyone who wants to learn more should attend one of the events held by BSU and other student groups in reaction to this incident and ask questions.
I was there
I was there that night and this is a huge overreaction to a situation in where drunk people talk too much.
These ladies reacted unfavorably to some demeaning comments and I do not blame them. Unfortunately no one at DP Dough knew of what was going on at the incident until they ladies raised their voices. The manager then came from some back area to see who was screaming and then reacted to the raising of their voices. This was why they were asked to leave.
There was never anything racial stated that night, "ignorant ass hoes" does not imply any race at all.
Just because the victims are in fact of african american decent, does not make this a racial matter. Again, there was no racial motivation when the girls were asked to leave, they were asked to leave because they were loud and out of control, and the guys were quiet when approached by the manager.
These are two stupid drunk college students who did a very stupid thing. They should realize how offensive they were, write apologies and make sure this never happens again.
Ithaca police was right for seperating the parties, and DP Dough was right for getting help for a seemingly out of control situation. The girls were right to be pissed off, but take your anger and direct it towards who actually deserves it, the two drunk idiots who cant keep their mouths shut.
I agree. . . take the speculation for what it is
I agree with the comment above. If the manager came from the back and only saw loud, angry girls yelling at 2 calm(at the time) guys, I would expect them to call the police on the girls. Quite honestly, I am a minority and I would have called the police on them too given the situation.
Now, the report that the ladies put together obviously has missing information, and if anything, that is lying and not acceptable. It is one thing to speak for yourself, saying you arent going to order DP Dough, but now, you have essentially spoken for the entire black and Latino community, boycotting DP Dough for no apparent reason.
Seriously, get you lies in order and come up with a FULL story to tell people before you try and bash this business. I am quite ashamed at how the minority community has handled this situation, and it is my hope that this kind of lie-supporting will not occur again. if someone wronged you, please tell the truth about it, because if you lie about it, obviously, you were wrong somewhere as well.
Get this together because you are doing nothing but creating controversy when there doesn't need to be any.
If you wanted a Jena 6 scenario, move to LA and dont create one at Cornell. Thanks.
What are the lies?
I am quite confused. What exactly is it that the young ladies are LYING about? And when have the young ladies (or even their supporters) attempted to speak for the black/latino community? The SUPPORTERS (both black and white) are the ones boycottin D.P. Dough; not the entire minority community. You are more than welcome to have a different opinion of what transpired and your ethncity does not bind you to a particular side.
Is not telling thr truth the same as lying?
I think so. When you real the incident report that the girls put together, it is obvious that the girls left out many, many pieces of vital information. In my eyes, that becomes lying about such a situation that has escalated to a point where it shouldn't have.
Secondly, the people that are supporting the ladies don't know the story either, just the outrageous lies that they have told. Of course, if I was naive enough to believe the lies, I would support them too. But fortunately, I believe that all facts should be seen before I make up in my mind what actually happened. At the Noyes event, the ladies distributed a report of what happened. Initially, the girls signed Christine Baptiste-Perez's name at the bottom, but for the sake of sounding legitimate, they removed it. Indeed, the report does sound as if it came from the police department, but in actuality, it came from the 4 girls.
There was also an eyewitness account that came forward and said that the girls had a right to be mad, but they carried themselves in a way that put themselves in the wrong. THIS IS WHERE I HAVE THE PROBLEM (Listen Carefully so we have no miscommunication). If you have a problem and are allowed to tell your side of the story...TELL IT ALL. The girls simply included what wrong the other parties did, and magnified it, never ever mentioning their reaction to anything. We even discussed this at the Ujamaa forum if you were there. There is a right way and a wrong way to react to a situation. When you react in the wrong way, then you become equally as wrong. But never once did they mention the way in which they reacted. And knowing the personalities of these ladies, they have never reacted calmly to any situation.
Finally...who do they speak for? I'm not sure if you are a minority or not, or if you live in the LLC or Ujamaa, but this situation has affected us all. Whether it is just talk around the entire community, or whether you just wanted to order a good calzone (which has become impossible now). If I were to order anything from DP Dough, I believe that the people at the LLC and Ujamaa may crucify me. And on top of that, I'm not sure I would feel safe doing that either because this situation has been linked to the black and latino communities, and that is where most of us live, in the LLC and Ujamaa. Who knows what they might do to my calzone.
So please, get real, and stop wanting to take us back a few years. This is Cornell, and if you didn't realize, it is an Ivy League institution - not an elementary school.
In Business, the Only Color is Green...
I honestly don't think that D.P. Dough would "do" anything to your calzone, haha. If anything, they would probably just be happy to have the business back. Which is actually an important point; businesses can't really afford to be racist. I would imagine that between the minority population which permanently resides in Ithaca, and the minority students of I.C. and Cornell, minorities probably make up at least a quarter of D.P. Dough's customer base. I'm sure D.P. Dough would be happy to serve you. As for the Ujamaa/LLCers who support this apparent boycott, maybe you should watch out for them...