Brig incident is blemish on Fresno

Black Women Organized for Political Action is outraged at the behavior that occurred at The Brig bar on March 12 when two black female attorneys were forcibly removed from the bar under the pretext of a failure to follow the bar’s rules by paying for drinks when they signed up to sing karaoke.

They were verbally and physically assaulted by two bar employees, who not only yelled at them but also got in their faces and pushed the smaller of the two women with his chest.

The behavior exhibited at the bar smacks of discrimination and thought processes that have not been in existence legally or philosophically since the early 1960s.

All members of the Fresno community in general, and the African-American community in particular, deserve to be treated fairly and civilly when doing business in the city. If we want Fresno to flourish and grow, we have to begin with businesses that follow the law.

This incident was a complete breakdown of the legal process and is a blemish on the kind of racial and ethnic diversity we want to see in Fresno.

This story was originally published April 2, 2016 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Brig incident is blemish on Fresno."