In a swift display of Karmic justice, a Milwaukee franchise bar lost its license after the owner's racist ravings caused employees to quit en masse and the activist community rallied their troops.
On May 1, of 2015 (not 1955), the owner of Two Bucks bar, Lynn Forthaus, flew into a whirlwind of racism, telling black patrons they were "too ghetto to be there" and asking employees-who began walking out-if they stood behind "blacks" or behind the bar. Clearly,the bar lost.
In a statement released from Two Bucks of America's Facebook page, COO Eric Nugent wrote:
After interviewing employees, customers, and community activists, we have decided to revoke the franchise license of Forever Young Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a Two Bucks Milwaukee.
Forever Young Enterprises will have 24 hours to cover or remove all trademarked signage and materials in and around their premises.
The response to this grotesque display of hate and bigotry came after employees and customers alike took to social media to describe the surreal scene. The future of the location is not yet clear, but one thing is: Lynn Forthaus will have a tough time getting another franchise or liquor license in the future.
More below the fold.
Forthaus was visibly intoxicated when she went into a tirade, summarily kicking black patrons out of the bar, hurling racial slurs, and demanding the staff support her bigotry. Those demands went largely unheeded as bartenders and bouncers walked off the job and nearly immediately took to social media to describe what they witnessed. Patrons, employees, and random passers-by illustrated a scene wholly unimaginable in modern, supposed-post-racial America. Witnesses described a range of offenses by Forthaus, from telling black customers they were drinking too slow and had to leave, too "ghetto" to be in the bar, and even dropping hard N's, just in case she hadn't made her ignorant, backwards position clear.
After the social media campaign, the issue was quickly taken up by the Milwaukee Coalition for Justice, an activist group created in the wake of the murder of Dontre Hamilton, an unarmed 31-year old African-American man shot 14 times by Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney on April 30, 2014, for the offense of sleeping while black. The Coalition distributed flyers and organized concerned citizens to protest the bar, hanging signs that read "SHUT IT DOWN" and "BLACK LIVES MATTER" across the bar's storefront window.
To their credit, Two Bucks of America responded swiftly to the news that one of their franchisees was a ranting racist cesspool of flesh and sent corporate representatives to gather statements from staff and witnesses about the incident. After this diligent fact-finding inquiry, Two Bucks of America moved to strip Forthaus of her franchise license and demanded that all signage be removed or covered within 24 hours. They also praised the Milwaukee community for its activism and response, as Nugent stated:
We would like to thank the beautifully-diverse city of Milwaukee for your patience as we worked through the guidelines of our franchise agreement. We are a small family of entrepreneurs-with-a-dream and it breaks our hearts to close a Two Bucks location. However, The Two Bucks of America was built on a foundation of ethics, values, and integrity. As such, we do everything we can to tenaciously build from that foundation in the pursuit of a safe, satisfying environment for customers and employees.
Kudos to TBoA for their swift and appropriate response, and double Kudos to the Coalition for Justice and the Milwaukee community for its mobilization to bring the actions of this drunken bigot to light.