Hispanic Restaurant Owners Host ‘White Appreciation Day,’ Could Be Sued For Racial Discrimination

White Appreciation Day once started out as a joke of sorts among white Americans who felt disenfranchised by the growing number of tribute months and days to other races.

While some would argue that every day is a White Appreciation Day of sorts, two Hispanic gentlemen from Milliken, Colorado, don’t see it that way.

Edgar Antillon and Miguel Jimenez, the new owners of Rubbin Buttz BBQ, have decided that White Appreciation Day should be a real thing, and they’re backing up that belief with a 10 percent discount for all white customers on June 11.

It’s a move that could land the men in hot water, according to Jennifer McPherson of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

In comments to 9 News, McPherson explained how.

“If someone felt like they were being discriminated against, they could come to the civil rights division and file a complaint in our office, and we would investigate that,” she said.

In other words, by offering a 10 percent discounts to whites only for one day out of the year, the Hispanic restaurant owners could be racially discriminating, even though they claim that is not their intention.

Antillon explains, “We have a whole month for Black History Month. We have a whole month for Hispanic Heritage Month, so we thought the least we could do was offer one day to appreciate white Americans… We’re all American, whether you came from a different country or you were born here. We’re all Americans.”

That explanation? Not good enough, says Weld County civil rights activist and community organizer Ricardo Romero, calling the White Appreciation Day “a perpetuation of racism.”

“It’s wrong. If you’re going to give a discount, give it to the whole community,” he added.

https://youtu.be/MgF3abOyM-c

Support or criticism of the decision depends on what media outlet you’re reading, really. Right-leaning sites like the Washington Times paint the BBQ restaurant owners as heroes for bringing awareness to reverse discrimination while left-leaning sites like Mashable call it “a terrible idea.”

This certainly isn’t the first time something similar to a White Appreciation Day of this sort has made it on to the Inquisitr. In April, there was this story about Jim Boggess, a New Jersey deli owner, who suffered major backlash in March from his “White History Month” sign.

The big difference here, of course, is that Boggess himself is a white man. Not the case with either of the Rubbin Buttz owners.

What do you think, readers? Should restaurant owners be allowed to hold a White Appreciation Day that offers discounts to whites only, or is this racism, even when the owners are of an ethnicity other than white? Sound off in the comments section.