[Vision2020] 'No Negroes Allowed' in Wisconsin Gentlemen's Club

[Tom Hansen]

Trust me, Sue.

This guy Mark Prior is a real piece of work.  He, apparently, has a
"history" in northern Wisonsin that makes the SCV (Sons of Confederate
Veterans) look warm and fuzzy.

I am surprised, though, that a certain element here on the Viz hasn't
rushed to Mark Prior's defense.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

On Wed, December 8, 2010 10:45 am, Sue Hovey wrote:
> And if it's a "Gentlemen's Club" he is also discriminating against women.
> Isn't anyone bothered by that, as well?
>
> Sue H
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Hansen
> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 6:13 AM
> To: Moscow Vision 2020
> Subject: [Vision2020] 'No Negroes Allowed' in Wisconsin Gentlemen's Club
>
> Courtesy of The Grio at:
>
> http://www.thegrio.com/news/no-negroes-allowed-in-wisconsin-gentlemens-club.php
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> 'No negroes allowed' in Wisconsin gentlemen's club
>
> An Abbotsford business man is under fire for posting a 'No negroes
> allowed' sign in his future gentlemen's club. The sign excluding black
> people is enraging residents of this small town in Wisconsin.
>
> The Clark County business man, Mark Prior, says its his right to
> discriminate. "If I've got a problem with you it's going to be on the
> front of my store," he says.
>
> The gentlemen's club Prior wants to open is in a building next to the
> Abbotsford city hall and library. A city official asked him to remove the
> sign, which was previously outside the establishment but he kept it and
> placed it inside the club instead.
>
> This sign is one which generations of people may have never seen, and many
> wished they would never have to see again. Federal and State law says that
> if the business is open to the public then prohibiting people to enter it
> based on race, is illegal. However, if the proposed gentlemen's club is
> private, then he technically could discriminate.
>
> The sign was posted because Prior has allegedly had issues with black
> people in the past, and decided to make a policy against them. Apparently
> it is not just black people that he has issues with. Prior says that he
> has a problem with others as well, but could not post a lengthy list of
> names outside his establishment, and opted instead to post the 'No Negroes
> Allowed' sign.
>
> "I'm going to stick to my guns because I think I have the right as a
> business owner to reject service to anyone. It's not all the black people,
> there are just a few bad ones," Prior says.
>
> People in Abbotsford say it's a sign they don't welcome in their town.
> However, Prior says it's his right as an American and as a business owner
> to decide who's welcome; a right he says he'll take all the way to court
> if he has to.
>
> "It's insulting to think that someone automatically sees your skin color
> and thinks that you're inferior and that you're not fit to be around. On
> the other hand, if they're of this kind of intelligence, I'm not going to
> worry about it too much," says Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, an African
> American historian at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
>
> Ducksworth-Lawton says the second he opens his business, he'll be in
> violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
>
> Prior's gentlemen's club is set to open to the public Friday, however this
> business man's previous endeavors, (a grocery store and his own sheriff's
> department), have not worked out in the past.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
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"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown