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It is true that a segment of America chooses to live in a post-fact world, meaning actual proven facts have no basis in their bubble of reality. Some people only believe what they want to believe, which is what seems to have been the sad case at a Chili’s restaurant in Dallas where an African-American veteran had his free Veteran’s Day meal taken away by a manager after someone wearing a Donald Trump shirt complained that he was a fraud.
Ernest Walker, who served in the 25th Infantry Division in the US Army, was enjoying his free meal Friday when the man in the Trump shirt approached and asked him if he was in the 24th Unit, according to CBS 11.
Walker replied, no, and told the man he was in the 25th, to which the elderly man replied strangely: “They didn’t let you blacks over in World War II.”
“That’s exactly what he said to me,” Walker told the TV station. “He said he was in Germany, and that they did not let blacks serve over there.”
Of course, history tell us that African Americans did indeed serve bravely overseas in World War II, just as they fought civil rights injustices in their own country.
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After the man left, Walker was approached by a manager, who added insult to injury, telling Walker that the old man had complained that he couldn’t be “a real soldier” because he was wearing his hat indoors. Walker identified the manager as Wesley Patrick, and for good measure he videotaped their surreal exchange with his phone.
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Walker, 47, provided the manager with his military ID and discharge papers, to no avail. But the story gets even stranger — and sadder. Walker had his service dog, Barack, with him, and the manager began to question Walker about the legitimacy of his pup, even though the dog was wearing its official red service vest and his certified service dog tags.
In the video, Walker asks the manager multiple times if he showed him his military papers. The manager wouldn’t answer until he finally said no. Then the manager swiped Walker’s meal from the table.
“I was grossly offended, embarrassed and dehumanized,” Walker told the TV station. “This overzealous manager comes out, and instead of talking to me man-to-man, he treated me as if I was a black man stealing a meal. Honestly, that’s what it looked like.”
Walker posted this picture of his service dog with Dallas police officers Monday.
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Chili’s issued a somewhat oddly worded public apology in which they saved the actual apology for last and never mentioned Walker by name. Finally, three days after the incident late on Monday afternoon, Chili’s said it apologized personally to Walker and issued a statement via its Twitter page.
On 11/11, we didn't live up to our passion of making every guest feel special. Read how we're making things right: https://t.co/hS9EEDAGkn
— Chili's Grill & Bar (@Chilis) November 14, 2016
For many it might be too little, too late.
