Naperville’s only black council member rebukes ‘blatant racism’
After incident at Buffalo Wild Wings, wants message of inclusion added to city’s mission statement
Naperville City Councilman Benny White said Tuesday the “blatant racism” experienced by a group of people at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Naperville is unacceptable, and particularly offensive especially because it occurred in front of children.
“It is disheartening to think that families can go to a public restaurant and be shunned by other patrons, and furthermore be given little to no support by the management within that establishment, simply because of the color of their skin,” said White, the city’s first African American councilman who spoke about the incident at the Tuesday council meeting. “This is wrong. It’s unacceptable. And this is not what I fought for as a U.S. Army soldier.”
The incident occurred Oct. 26 when a group of six parents and 12 children went to the restaurant on 75th Street to celebrate a birthday following a youth basketball tournament. A patron told restaurant employees he did not want to be seated near black people, prompting them to ask the group to move to another area.
“This group made up of parents and kids, youth basketball team members, out celebrating a birthday, were forced to contend with hatred and blatant racism, again, based on the color of their skin,” White said. “These kids should have been talking about mastering the X’s and O’s of the basketball game, yet instead their parents found themselves in a situation that many parents of color have to deal with — teaching their kids about the evils of racism at a time not of their choosing.
White requested that language on diversity and inclusion be added to the city of Naperville’s mission statement in response to the incident.
Buffalo Wild Wings has since fired the two managers who were involved and banned the patron from all of its restaurants for life.
The families involved in the incident held a news conference Tuesday and asked Buffalo Wild Wings to establish “zero tolerance” hiring practices to ensure no other patrons endure anything like what they experienced.
Kim White, Councilman Benny White’s wife, was one of six people, in addition to the councilman, to comment on the situation during the public forum portion of the Tuesday council meeting.
“I have walked out of two local restaurants in recent years, sadly one here in downtown Naperville, where my husband and I left because of how we were made to feel,” she said.
As a mother, White said she was hurt because children were involved and disappointed by some of the online reactions posted in response to the group’s story. Many were mean-spirited, racist and questioned the legitimacy of the story, she said.
“Why would one automatically assume the family would lie about this? Why is it so hard to believe that racism still exists,” White asked. “I’m here to tell you that yes, in 2019, racism still exists, and it has directly and indirectly affected my family and me.”
She said she wouldn’t want her worst enemy to experience “the hurt, the sadness, the pain that comes when you are made to feel less than. Being black or a person of color does not give others the right or the reason to discriminate.”
Naperville resident Tiffany Stephens, a onetime city council candidate, said she experienced racism during her campaign. Things have to change, she said.
“This is way above Buffalo Wild Wings,” Stephens said. “I have four kids that have been affected by this, you guys. I have a 28-year-old, I have a 26-year-old, a 24-yearold, and the stories that they tell me now that they went through. (And) me moving out of inner city, coming to Naperville, thinking it was going to make a difference for them. They’ve been scorned.”
Democratic state Sen. Laura Ellman, of Naperville, also spoke on the topic.
“I think a lot of us in this room aspire for Naperville to be a better community. From this testimony we’ve heard, we have fallen short,” Ellman said.