Activists Call For National Waffle House Boycott
People gathered Monday at Waffle House’s Norcross headquarters to call for a national boycott following incidents at two of the restaurant’s locations in Alabama.
About a dozen people, some of them representing Atlanta community groups, called for a boycott of Waffle House at the company’s headquarters in Norcross on Monday.
It was a tense meeting as Waffle House management supported employees who called the police on 25-year-old Chikesia Clemons on April 22. Three white officers at a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama, arrested Clemons, who is African-American.
During the arrest, Clemons was slammed to the ground and her breasts were exposed during the process. One of the officers can also be heard yelling he will break Clemons’ arm. A video of the arrest went viral and caught the attention of advocacy groups in Atlanta.
At Waffle House headquarters, management said they were still investigating the facts surrounding Clemons’ arrest.
“Well as you gather the facts, we will continue the soda-pop sit in and we will spend $2 at the Waffle House stores during your peak hours,” J’Lyn Furby with Street Peace America said. “We will tie up those booths and we will have an intimate discussion amongst ourselves respectfully as we enjoy our free refills at Waffle House.”
Furby said they also want a hearing with the Consumer Rights Division of the Federal Trade Commission.
“No consumer should ask for a manager and then end up on the ground with their breasts exposed,” she said.
Waffle House representatives said employees called police after Clemons threatened them. The restaurant said eyewitnesses say Clemons had asked for the manager’s cell phone number after a dispute regarding whether she had to pay for to go silverware.
The company said they were in the process of getting her the corporate number when the police were called.
Christopher Mungin organized a sit in at a Waffle House in Brookhaven on Sunday. He was at the meeting Monday and said he is frustrated by how the company is responding.
“They have no answers for not one question,” Mungin said. “Everything is ‘we’re still investigating’ and I don’t think they expected anybody to speak up because this happens all the time in Alabama.”
The advocacy groups also presented Waffle House staff with a list of demands asking for criminal charges against Clemons to be dropped, video of the incident with audio to be released, disciplinary action against the employees and for them to speak out against how Clemons was treated.
The Saraland location isn’t alone in Alabama Waffle House controversy. Another video recently posted by Jacinda Mitchell, who is also black, shows employees locked the doors and wouldn’t let her in.
At the meeting at headquarters, a Waffle House spokesperson said the doors should not have been locked.
The groups are calling for a national boycott this Friday and also plan to rally at the company’s headquarters at that time.
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