Page:Race distinctions in American Law (IA racedistinctions00stepiala).pdf/147

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

was a Jewess. It was a family hotel, containing small suites like those found in an ordinary apartment house, rented upon annual leases, transients not being solicited. The New York court[53] held that it was not a hotel in the sense that the manager must receive all applicants without regard to race or color. Of course, this case did not concern the Negro, but the same principle is involved.


RESTAURANTS

Race discrimination in restaurants is prohibited by thirteen States; in taverns, by one; in eating-houses, by eleven; in boarding-houses, by one; in cafés, by one; in chop-houses, by one; and at lunch-counters, by one. These will be considered under the general head of restaurants.

In 1881 a Negro was refused accommodation in a restaurant in New York. At that time the laws of the State prohibited discrimination in inns. The restaurant-keeper argued as a defence in the suit that followed that the restaurant was not included in the term "inns." The court[54] held that the legislature meant by "inn" a place that furnished both lodging and food to guests, that "restaurant" had no fixed legal meaning, and that the declaration was sufficient if it said "inn" and then explained it by calling it a restaurant.

A Negro went to a restaurant in Detroit in 1887 and asked for accommodation. The clerk told him that he could not be served on the restaurant side, but that he would be served if he went over on the saloon side. The colored man complained to the proprietor and was told that it was the rule of the house not to serve Negroes in