The Hispanic owners of a Colorado restaurant have caused a racial controversy by announcing they will be hosting a White Appreciation Day next month,
USA Today reported.
Edgar Antillon and Miguel Jimenez, who recently bought the Rubbin Buttz BBQ eatery in Milliken, plan to offer a 10 percent discount on June 11 to white customers only.
"We have a whole month for black history month," said Antillon, "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."
Although the whites-only discount day started as a joke, Antillon and Jimenez knew that they might face some racial protests over the plan,
according 9News.com, and they were right.
"It's a perpetuation of racism," said Ricardo Romero, a civil rights activist and community organizer in the region. "It's wrong. If you're going to give a discount, give it to the whole community."
Jennifer McPherson of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies warned that the restaurant could face legal issues over the whites-only appreciation day.
"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," said McPherson.
But Antillon says the discount is meant to bring people together as opposed to being discriminatory.
"We're all American, whether you came from a different country or you were born here," Antillon said. "We're all American."
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