Diner calls black woman 'a stupid n*****' for talking 'too loudly' in a restaurant, refuses to apologize
LOS ANGELES: A woman has triggered outrage after she was caught on camera using racial slurs against a black diner and her friend in a Los Angeles restaurant. In the footage taken on Tuesday night at Bonefish Grill in North Hills, Nancy Goodman, can be seen abusing a black diner who was there with a friend for talking too loudly.
The shocking incident was captured on video and has gone viral since.
Goodman is seen approaching Lakesha Shaw and Chanda Stewart and telling the two women to be quiet and then proceeds to call one of them a "stupid n*****."
The footage has garnered a lot of comments and reactions online ever since it was shared. The slur was directed at Shaw, while Stewart filmed the entire incident on her phone.
Stewart can be heard saying in the video, "We're paying for our food just like everyone else, and she told us that we are the rudest people."
Goodman proceeded to confront the women and said, "I've got real good friends who are black, and I love them." Stewart then responds to this and says that they had not said anything about color. Goodman then tells the women that they were being too loud when Shaw tells Goodman, "In your opinion. Let me show you my money. It's just as green as yours."
Goodman can then be heard saying, "Why are you so stupid 'n******?" as she leaves the table. The women then asked her whether she called her black friends that? To which Goodman responds with, "They're not like you."
Since making the racist comment, Goodman has refused to apologize and has said that she would do it again. Goodman, 71, blamed her "tremendous anxiety" and said that the group's behavior had pushed her to make the racist remarks.
She spoke to WRAL-TV and said, "I'm not going to say I'm sorry to them because they kept pushing at it." When asked why she used the word 'n*****' she said that the group had "forced her into it."
On Wednesday evening, in a post on her Facebook page, Goodman said she was "ashamed" of her action and apologized "to my family, friends and other patrons in the bar at North Hills Bonefish."
Denying that she was racist, Goodman said she knew the slur was offensive and wasn't sorry she used it.
"I’m not going to say I’m sorry to them because they kept pushing at it," she said. "I would say it again to them. They are the rudest individuals I have ever seen."
Shaw, meanwhile, was stunned by Goodman admitting that she was ready to use the slur again.
"The fact that you’re willing to say you will repeat that again shows me the hate that you harbor in your heart for the black African-American race," she said. "I don’t care what color I am. Give me the respect of being a human being, just like everyone else deserves."
Both Shaw and Stewart said that they will not be returning to the restaurant and the manager should have intervened to stop the dispute.
Bonefish Grill officials said they are reviewing the incident. Elizabeth Watts, a spokeswoman for the restaurant chain's parent company, Bloomin' Brands Inc, said in a statement: "We are a place for all people to gather for good food in a comfortable atmosphere, including positive interactions among guests. We do not tolerate hate speech or disrespect in our restaurants." "We are reviewing the incident to see how we can do better at de-escalating something like this in the future," she added.