Milt going to Morris MB to help business owner

[kelownabomberfan]

Way to go Milt!!!  This is why we love you...

 

STEGALL TO GO DEEP TO PROMOTE RACIAL TOLERANCE IN MANITOBA

 

MORRIS, Man. - A well-known member of the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame will speak out against racism later this month in a southern Manitoba town that's trying to shed any image that it's racist.

Milt Stegall, a former star wide receiver with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will be outside a restaurant in Morris called Thea's Diner on Dec. 14 to deliver a message about tolerance.

Thea Morris, the restaurant's Jamaican-born owner, recently said she's closing her business because of racist behaviour on the part of some people in community.

The 53-year-old woman has said she's received an email referencing the Ku Klux Klan and has been told by one of her customers that people are avoiding her business because she is black.

Ron D'Errico, president of Winnipeg's Impact Security Group, says he contacted the U.S.-born Stegall about what was happening in Morris and he was very upset.

D'Errico says Stegall will talk about what racism does to a community and will strongly encourage Morris residents to work together.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=438081

[Atomic]

I'd prefer to just wipe Morris off the map but I guess I'm just old fashioned that way

[holoman]

Good on him

[Mr. Perfect]

Gotta love Milt!

[max power]

Before you super tolerant heros take up your pitchforks and run everyone from Morris out of the province, maybe take time to hear both sides of the story: http://townofmorris.ca/an-open-letter-to-gordon-sinclair-winnipeg-free-press/

 

Shockingly, sometimes the media paints a pretty biased and even - gasp - dishonest story.

[The Unknown Poster]

What can you expect from Gordon Sinclair.

[Armchair GM]

I'd prefer to just wipe Morris off the map but I guess I'm just old fashioned that way

 

Or at least put in a bypass.  Wouldn't want all that "racism" to rub off on us on our way to the States...

[Atomic]

Before you super tolerant heros take up your pitchforks and run everyone from Morris out of the province, maybe take time to hear both sides of the story: http://townofmorris.ca/an-open-letter-to-gordon-sinclair-winnipeg-free-press/

 

Shockingly, sometimes the media paints a pretty biased and even - gasp - dishonest story.

 

I read the post.  The problem is that this councilor is taking the wrong approach.  He shouldn't be going down the "nothing is wrong, we've been framed!" route.  He would be better off doing something proactive, starting up anti-discrimination groups, campaigns, etc.  That's how you clean up your town's image.  Not by saying "No, no, no!!  They're lying!  Everything is GREAT here!"

 

Do I believe everyone or even a large percentage of Morris are racist or homophobic?  Nah.  But that post does absolutely nothing to help their cause, in fact it makes them look worse.

[Valderan_CA]

 

Before you super tolerant heros take up your pitchforks and run everyone from Morris out of the province, maybe take time to hear both sides of the story: http://townofmorris.ca/an-open-letter-to-gordon-sinclair-winnipeg-free-press/

 

Shockingly, sometimes the media paints a pretty biased and even - gasp - dishonest story.

 

I read the post.  The problem is that this councilor is taking the wrong approach.  He shouldn't be going down the "nothing is wrong, we've been framed!" route.  He would be better off doing something proactive, starting up anti-discrimination groups, campaigns, etc.  That's how you clean up your town's image.  Not by saying "No, no, no!!  They're lying!  Everything is GREAT here!"

 

Do I believe everyone or even a large percentage of Morris are racist or homophobic?  Nah.  But that post does absolutely nothing to help their cause, in fact it makes them look worse.

 

 

 

It can be difficult to tuck your tail between your legs and try a PR (essentially) campaign showing how you are taking steps to fix a problem you honestly don't believe exists in your community.

[blueandgoldguy]

The majority of people in Morris aren't racist, that we can be certain of.  But is a greater percentage of the community racist and homophobic compared to most other towns/cities in southern Manitoba?  It's starting to look that way.

 

This is the second incident that has occurred in Morris and with the same restaurant no less.  Where there's smoke, there's fire.

[Brandon]

In fairness when I was in Morris we walked in the place for lunch and it was very dark, very hot and it wasn't the cleanest place.

[MOBomberFan]

The majority of people in Morris aren't racist, that we can be certain of.  But is a greater percentage of the community racist and homophobic compared to most other towns/cities in southern Manitoba?  It's starting to look that way.

 

This is the second incident that has occurred in Morris and with the same restaurant no less.  Where there's smoke, there's fire.

I don't know what is fact and fiction in this little drama, but it sounds to me like the location and the business plans put in place are the problem... I'm willing to bet that small venues with limited seating that over-specialize their menus tend to take a while to gain traction, assuming they ever do. I mean, Pots and Hands was apparently a great place for raisin pudding and chicken salad-stuffed cashew-encrusted baked potatoes, but that doesn't exactly scream door-crasher to me. Niether does Carribean cuisine in general. Not saying it's bad, and I'm not saying it's the only thing served at Thea's, but if I were betting between a Carribean diner and a Southern BBQ joint I'm going all in on the BBQ joint.

 

This is the fifth business in the last four years to close down at that location. It may be easier for the business owners to blame homophobia and racism for the failure of their businesses. However, it's easier for me to believe that any combination of the service, menu selection, atmospehere, and quality of food played a much greater role in their downfall. And while I can't site specific examples, I'm willing to believe the mayor when he says there are numerous successful businesses Morris that are owned/operated by people of color.

 

I've never been to Morris and probably won't have any reason to go there in the future... so I don't know why I even care... but this sounds a lot more like easy headlines than actual journalism, and it's a shame to see a community repeatedly painted with such broad strokes.

[Brandon]

I went around the province the last several months for work and stopped off to eat at nearly every little city.

For the most part everywhere has a subway, chicken chef, Chinese restaurant, greasy spoon and maybe a general family place to get a clubhouse or basic food.

None of the small towns had anything like carribean, east Indian, Thai etc....

I did see many Asian people working at the restaurants outside of the bible belt and did not see any kind racism or people avoiding these places.

Within the bible belt , you definitely encounter ignorant and racist people. I definitely think they are more common in that area.

But it's far from being the norm. I would think the reason these places fail is because of the small market more so then a community of hate.

As a whole I found this province to be very good and not racist at all.

A few bad apples shouldn't make it seem like every one in the country is a racist.

[Valderan_CA]

The majority of people in Morris aren't racist, that we can be certain of.  But is a greater percentage of the community racist and homophobic compared to most other towns/cities in southern Manitoba?  It's starting to look that way.

 

This is the second incident that has occurred in Morris and with the same restaurant no less.  Where there's smoke, there's fire.

 

Or a smoker

---

 

Saying this is the second incident being evidence of a problem totally ignores other evidence showing the opposite.

It is telling that this location has had FIVE restaurants close down in this location in 4 years... Before Pots and Hands and before Thea's there were 3 other businesses that bit it there

 

One was Charlottes Cafe which facebook tells me seems to have been run by a pretty white woman (VERY white... with flaming red hair) named Charlotte (who also appears to be straight based on facebook photos) - and somtime before that was a Chicken Delight that was owned by a Randy Wiebe (I couldn't find much but name alone would suggest he was from the area).

 

Think about how it must feel to open a restaurant thinking you are realizing a dream (of owning your own business/restaurant) and things start to go wrong... In the case of Pots and Hands these guys were very accomplished cooks preparing food that was, at least in their opinion, a step above anything else available in the town.  Things aren't going well and you just can't figure out why and suddenly you remember that some idiot called you a couple of fags... the cogs start turning and you remember every negative interaction in the light of homophobia (perception can be a powerful filter).

 

Step forward 8 months and now you are the new owner of a restaurant that you believe closed because the town was close-minded, things aren't going well despite the fact that people should be coming in droves to your place (at least you think they should be).  You start wondering why you can't get enough business to stay afloat and you remember that this town is a bunch of close-minded bigots... right you even had someone make a racist comment at you once... it suddenly all makes sense.

 

---

 

Nevermind that no matter who you are, where you are located - if you own a business where you interact with the general public you will encounter close minded idiots.  I wouldn't be shocked if the previous owners of the businesses could also look back and find some form of discrimination they once experienced from a patron and blame the failure of their businesses on that as well if they chose to make that their story.

 

I'm sure gay restaurant owners in San Francisco have, albeit on rare occasion, had homophobic slurs slung in their general direction by customers unhappy with their service.

---

 

Which is more likely -

 

Thea's and Pots and Hands ended up closing because their business model in this location was a bad one, just like the two (maybe three) restaurants that had to close in that location before them.

OR

 

The other two restaurants that closed means nothing - Pots and Hands and Thea's would have thrived if it wasn't for the close-minded bigots who populate the town of Morris.

[iso_55]

We, who do not live in Morris, know nothing about the situation. Maybe there's racism & homophobia. Maybe there isn't. We don't know. For that reason I'm not making any comments about this story other than this.

[Armchair GM]

As someone who works in the financing field... I can tell you with certainty that restaurants are the most competitive industry in the world.  Everyone wants one regardless of whether or not there is a market to support it, and whether or not they have differentiating factors to separate from the crowd.  People want the fame and chase the fortune... they don't realize that after they pay their expenses and food costs, the average customer makes them less than $5.  So really, it's just a play for glamour, in a lot of cases.

 

Restaurants closing due to unprofitability is not new.  Neither is people blaming something other than their own lack of effort or planning. 

[17to85]

As someone who works in the financing field... I can tell you with certainty that restaurants are the most competitive industry in the world.  Everyone wants one regardless of whether or not there is a market to support it, and whether or not they have differentiating factors to separate from the crowd.  People want the fame and chase the fortune... they don't realize that after they pay their expenses and food costs, the average customer makes them less than $5.  So really, it's just a play for glamour, in a lot of cases.

 

Restaurants closing due to unprofitability is not new.  Neither is people blaming something other than their own lack of effort or planning. 

I don't know what the stats are but I do recall reading a ton of things stating that owning a restaurant or bar is basically asking for a failed business. So much competition and thin profit margins you gotta get people through the door constantly to make it work. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

Completely disregarding the specifics of this case, and just speaking generally.

 

Small town Southeast Manitoba is a terrible market for a start-up, non-chain, step above greasy-spoon type place to make a go of it.  Not a big market to draw from to start, and close enough to Winnipeg, Steinbach and WInkler that you're competing with businesses there for the locals.  I worked for a couple years in a nearby town and a lot of my co-workers lived in Morris, Emerson, Arnaud, Altona, Rosenfeld, Lowe Farm etc.  When they decided to go out for dinner or have a night out, they mostly went to Winnipeg.  Another factor is that people from the country aren't phased by a 45 minute drive like people in the city are.  Most places you want to go is a long drive!  You don't see a lot of places in those larger towns like Morris and Altona outside of long-standing breakfast and lunch spots or chains like Subway, McD's and Chicken Chef.

 

The only restaurant I'd want to operate in any of those towns is a Tim Horton's.

[Brandon]

As someone who works in the financing field... I can tell you with certainty that restaurants are the most competitive industry in the world. Everyone wants one regardless of whether or not there is a market to support it, and whether or not they have differentiating factors to separate from the crowd. People want the fame and chase the fortune... they don't realize that after they pay their expenses and food costs, the average customer makes them less than $5. So really, it's just a play for glamour, in a lot of cases.

Restaurants closing due to unprofitability is not new. Neither is people blaming something other than their own lack of effort or planning.

I don't know what the stats are but I do recall reading a ton of things stating that owning a restaurant or bar is basically asking for a failed business. So much competition and thin profit margins you gotta get people through the door constantly to make it work.

80% of non chain/franchise restaurants close within three years. Source: kitchen nightmares, bar rescue and working with some successful restaurant owners in my past

[SPuDS]

k wait.. so yer all so quick to ignore the racist and homophobic stuff directed at the two different owners as "oh country folk bein' country folk" regardless of your own opinions the fact remains that 2 different people were targeted by bigots..

i dont care if their restuarants served dog vomit and were the dirtiest holes in the world.. there is simply no place in this day and age for **** like this... also, for the record, this isnt a "rumoured that.." scenario.. these attacks happened, period.

[Jacquie]

Regardless of what you think of the restaurant, I think we can all agree that the person(s) who sent emails referencing the KKK is a racist idiot. 

 

I don't know what Morris is like. Most likely the majority of people are good, upstanding, tolerant citizens. I can tell you that some of the "person on the street" interviews indicate that there are people there who are racist (the old "I"m not racist but" type people). 

[Brandon]

. I can tell you that some of the "person on the street" interviews indicate that there are people there who are racist (the old "I"m not racist but" type people). 

 

I think the issue is the media cherry picking people to make a better story.   

[The Unknown Poster]

One person sending a racist email does not a "racist town" make.

[Jacquie]

One person sending a racist email does not a "racist town" make.

 

I didn't say it did. 

[MOBomberFan]

k wait.. so yer all so quick to ignore the racist and homophobic stuff directed at the two different owners as "oh country folk bein' country folk" regardless of your own opinions the fact remains that 2 different people were targeted by bigots..

i dont care if their restuarants served dog vomit and were the dirtiest holes in the world.. there is simply no place in this day and age for **** like this... also, for the record, this isnt a "rumoured that.." scenario.. these attacks happened, period.

Nope, I'm not ignoring that at all. Shwarma Time on Ellice has had to put up with some **** over the years, but they're going strong years later with a very specialized menu. Why? Probably because Winnipeg is more ethnicly diverse and densely populated than a place like Morris. For every white bread Winnipeger who wouldn't set foot in a dark and musky Lebanese owned/operated street meat vendor, there is another Winnipeger who will.

 

Do you accept that literally the only reason these businesses couldn't stay afloat was because of racism and bigotry? That if it wasn't for all those darn racist homophobes these businesses would have been thriving? If so, then you must be ignoring the existence of successful businesses owned by people of color in this town that haven't had to close their doors due to attacks by racists. I maintain that these businesses probably failed because the market wasn't right for them, plain and simple. There is no network of bigots in Morris trying to keep down the black/gay man, only a handful of garden-variety assholes you'll find in every town on the planet and a few businesses that were probably doomed to fail from the start.