Some Chicago clubs use racist tactics to discourage Black patrons

Certain urban nightclubs in Chicago can also charge black customers compared to white customers or use other tactics to discourage their patronage, according to a new study carried out by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The head of the Department of Sociology of Illinois and Professor Reuben A. BUFORD can investigate possible discriminatory practices in terms of price and access in Chicago nightclubs by sending pairs of black and white men dressed similar to 30 clubs located in a central night area. The men visited the clubs on Friday and Saturday evening for two weekends. On average, the white testers paid $ 12.85 each for their drinks while the two black testers were billed about 24 cents more for the same drinks, said May, who co-body with the newspaper with sociology professor Matthew Soener and doctoral students Carileigh Jones and Quinesha Bentley.

The team published its conclusions in the newspaper Socius: Sociological research for a dynamic world.

While making observations in one of the areas of the central nightlife in Chicago before the study, May, which is black, noted in several times, he was loaded with ice in his drinks while white customers who commanded the same drinks were not. He said that these differences have become the impulse of this study.

“I would never have thought of the differences in alcohol price, in particular with the point of sale computers that we now have where the staff must simply press a button for each element,” said May. “I would not have known it if I had not started to see these additional charges and to ask people next to me what they were billed. And so it made me ask myself where it happens and why?”

May has examined exclusion policies in nightclubs for almost two decades, including bouncers using fictitious reservations or discriminatory dress codes to refuse access to black customers – practices that can be called “velvet rope racism” in a 2018 study. However, the problem is not unique in Chicago, as can be demonstrated in this study. Using high-level media reports, he followed racial discrimination incidents in the access to clubs in the United States

For the new study, the team randomly selected 30 bars in the same region of the Central Chicago which remained open after 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday evening. Establishments like these which focus on late evening entertainment for customers aged 21 and over are generally where anti-black gourmet practices tend to occur, May said.

Consequently, the team noted during its observations according to which doors in the bars of the region billed variable admission costs depending on the race of customers. Establishments can use these patrons locking strategies to discourage racial minorities from visiting or limiting their number, practices that have been documented in previous studies carried out in other cities, the team wrote.

A pair of black men and a pair of white men who were similar in size, weight and physical stature were selected for the study in Chicago. All men wore similar clothes – Polo shirts, blue jeans and relaxed shoes – which is generally considered appropriate for nightclubs.

The testers were sent to each club alone, where they had to have entered, pay admission fees if the bouncer imposed one. Once inside, each man had to approach the bartender and, using a standardized script, ask for the same drink – a single version of a specific brand of whiskey and cola on the rocks. Each man paid with a credit card, keeping the detailed transaction slip and the customer’s copy of the receipt to be re -examined with May at the end of the evening.

During his stay in the bar, the first tester to visit shared the description and the location of the bartender with the other members of the team by group group to ensure that everyone was served by the same person. Each tester also took notes on his phone on his interactions with bouncers and barmans, as well as his clientele’s observations within the club, according to the study.

Given the uniformity of their orders, that all used the same bartender and that each establishment had computers with a touch screen to ensure standardized prices, each man should have been billed the same amount each time, said May.

However, out of the 118 drinks that black testers bought, there were five cases in which they were billed more than white testers. In a club, each of the white testers paid $ 16.13 for their drinks while the black testers paid $ 18.44 and $ 19.60, the receipts indicated. In another disco, one of the black testers was billed $ 24.51 – $ 4.07 more than the second black tester and both of those who were white. Not once the white testers were loaded more than those who were black, the team noted.

“There are motivations that the owners have to do so that may not necessarily have to do with their predispositions on the race,” said May. “After all, you can argue that there are people who go to these nightclubs who do not particularly care to be with blacks. If you try to earn money, you will use discriminatory practices to limit the participation of black customers so that you can keep your patronage of whites and other groups that are comfortable with each other.”

The biased hypotheses of the bodies according to which blacks do not have the discretionary income or the desire to spend it can be affirmed when these customers refuse to pay higher prices “and they may not choose to come back, which is the desired effect in many of these clubs,” said May.

May and other researchers have discovered that the doormen can use racist perceptions on socio -economic status or the propensity for violence to refuse admission to racial and ethnic minorities, especially black men. In the current project, there were two cases where doors in different clubs have diverted one of the black testers.

At the first club, the black tester 1 was informed that reservations were necessary before midnight, although the other three testers were admitted after him. And at the second club, Black Test 2 was informed that admission was limited to the guests of a private party, although two of the testers have already been admitted and the fourth was admitted after him.

“This study is only a small part of a broader study I have done, and I am writing a book on this subject at the moment. In the book, I will provide detailed details on how these things work in establishments across the country,” said May.