By Shawn Chollette
NYT Institute

Bourbon Street.

The whiskey is served in abundance there, but just how much you pay for it may depend on your skin color.

Incidents on New Orleans’ showcase street are prompting officials to take a sobering look at race relations in the wake of a city-commissioned report that found that 57 percent of Bourbon Street bars discriminated against young black men.

The study, released in mid-May, was ordered by Mayor Ray Nagin after Levon Jones, a black college student visiting the city, was suffocated in an altercation involving three white bouncers outside Razoo’s, a Bourbon Street bar.

Some say New Orleans, which has cultivated a strong relationship with minority tourists, has a track record of alienating those same guests.

In 1996, Essence Communications Inc., threatened to pull the Essence Music Festival, a celebration of culture and heritage, from New Orleans after then-Gov. Mike Foster proposed ending state affirmative action programs.

Essence officials said they are concerned, but have no plans to cancel this year’s festival, which is scheduled to take place July 1-3.

A spokeswoman for Essence said the company is aware of the circumstances and is monitoring the situation. She added that ticket sales to the festival are exceeding last year’s totals.

The Essence festival, which tourism officials say brings in the same amount of visitor spending as three Super Bowls, is only one of the many minority-themed events held in the city each year, and city tourism officials said they would like to keep it that way.

“We’ve only had to address this issue just recently. But there have been no major inquiries from convention planners,” said Raquel Dufauchard, a convention sales manager with the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Dufauchard said that while the city has no plans to counteract the negative publicity tied to the report, tourism officials are concerned.

“We are working directly with Mayor Nagin,” Dufauchard said. “And I’m proud of the way he has worked to identify and alleviate any forms of discrimination … because it’s our tourists that come in and spend top dollar.”

The bouncers in the Jones incident have since been charged with negligent homicide and are awaiting trial.

At the mayor’s request, the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center applied the same methods that it uses to investigate cases of housing discrimination to assess bias in Bourbon Street bars.

“Secret shoppers,” pairs of black and white men dressed in similar manner, frequented the same bars within minutes of each other and ordered the same drinks. They documented disparities in treatment, service and pricing.

Staff members of the center said the most common violations they found were black shoppers being overcharged for drinks and harassed about dress codes.

Danatus King, president of the New Orleans branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the organization conducted its own investigation and also found improprieties involving racial discrimination among Bourbon Street bars.

“The investigation that the NAACP conducted was to raise awareness and show that racism and discrimination still exist,” King said.

In addition to conducting its own investigation, King said the NAACP also conducted a meeting with French Quarter merchants several months ago to help resolve racial issues.

“We met with merchants and requested information regarding numbers of minorities employed at establishments, names of suppliers and whether or not they followed some sort of protocol during Essence Fest and Bayou Classic,” King said. “During that meeting, French Quarter merchants stressed overwhelmingly that racism and discrimination does not exist.”

King said since merchants were not “forthcoming with the information after repeated requests,” the next step for the civil rights organization was to march in protest. “The march, which takes place June 25 in the French Quarter, was planned so that it would occur before the Essence Festival, so that the nation could see that there are people in our city working to address racism,” he said.

Some French Quarter merchants say they are more than willing to iron out problems.

Earl Bernhardt, co-owner of four Bourbon Street bars including the Tropical Isle, which was listed in the report, said he supports the secret shopper approach, but questions some of the tactics.

“I’m all for the secret shopping, but I took issue with the way the last round was conducted,” Bernhardt said. “There was one incident at the Tropical Isle in which they didn’t follow procedure.”

One team of secret shoppers was charged more for Long Island iced teas, but Bernhardt said it was because the secret shoppers went to different bartenders.

“A Long Island iced tea is one of the hardest drinks to make because it calls for multiple liquors,” Bernhardt said. “Some bartenders use four liquors while others use five. And although the prices for each individual drink might be different, the customer is getting their money’s worth.”

Bernhardt said he believes the probe is less about discrimination and more about casting blame.

“I think the black population has the idea that Razoo’s got off scot-free, and I think this has caused a lot of discontent,” Bernhardt said. “And I think the city has handled this wrong.

“The press didn’t say ‘look, they had four squeaky clean bars,’ and I think the Times-Picayune has sensationalized this and made it more than it should be,” said Bernhardt, referring to local media coverage.

“I’ve been extremely cooperative in working with the city’s Human Relations Commission and trying to get people to do the right thing,” he added. “But the media is trying to make it out to seem like I’m running some sort of den of discrimination.”

When asked about Bernhardt’s statement, James Perry, executive director of the Fair Housing Action Center, said the board voted earlier this week to not comment on issues related to the study.

Silas Lee, a national pollster and assistant sociology professor at Xavier University, said after reviewing the report’s methodology, the overall findings “seemed to be fair and accurate.”

“The mystery shoppers were trained. And as far as the design and implementation, it (the study) seems to follow the standardized design and implementation methods utilized by the federal government in testing housing discrimination,” Lee said.

As long as secret shoppers follow protocol, said Larry Bagneris, executive director of the city’s Human Relations Commission, the tactic would be one of the city’s best weapons against discrimination.

“We all know Bourbon Street is a hustle, and nothing is wrong with that, as long as you’re hustling everyone equally,” Bagneris said. “But they (Bourbon Street bartenders) got caught hustling African-American men.”

Bagneris said the city has since mandated sensitivity training for French Quarter hospitality workers. He also said he hopes the training, which consists of three 20-minute sessions on racial sensitivity, state law and legal reality, will be offered twice a year.

“Once we correct the problem, the idea is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Bagneris, explaining that his office plans to prosecute repeat offenders as well as use secret shoppers to police bars and restaurants in other areas of the city.

Bagneris said if businesses are found to be repeat offenders, they will come before the commission, have a hearing and, if found at fault, will be fined.

“The fine for the individual committing the offense is currently $500, $2,500 for management and $5,000 for the business or company,” said Bagneris, who is pushing for an increase in fine amounts.

“I think everybody realizes that New Orleans is a wonderful melting pot, and regardless of what color, nationality or ethnicity you are, we want you to come back,” Bagneris said.

However, some patrons, such as Darrell James, a 27-year-old black man from Montgomery, Ala., said despite all of the policy changes taking place, Bourbon Street bars are still targeting young black men.

When asked his thoughts about Bourbon Street, James said, “Go read the dress code posted at the entrance” of Utopia.

“No plain color T-shirts, oversized athletic T’s or undershirts, no bandanas, no camouflage, no sleeveless shirts, no sweatshirts or athletic jerseys. Who do you think is wearing the oversized T-shirts and jerseys?” James said. “They don’t allow you to take your culture into the club, specifically hip-hop. And in a roundabout way, black men are still being targeted.”