Singer and former American Idol contestant Bo Bice have spent most of the New Year feuding with the owners of a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen location in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where he claims a black employee made racist comments about him after serving him his food.
The 41-year-old singer and father of four made headlines recently after an employee at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen referred to him as “white boy.”
Mistakenly ringing his order in twice, one of the group called for him when his food was ready for a second time. That’s when Bice allegedly heard an employee yell, “He’s already got his — that white boy there.”
Another worker at the Atlanta chain restaurant allegedly mocked Bice by calling him “Bow-Bow, Boo-Boo, and Bo-Bo,” all names that sound like terms of endearment to an untrained ear like myself. Nevertheless, Bice simply wanted a professional experience at the Popeyes chicken joint.
Bice refused to allow the worker to refer to him as a “white boy.” So, he sneakily snapped photos of their nametags and uploaded a photo to social media exposing the female worker for calling him a white boy in reference to his race
“If the tables had been turned and I, as a white male, treated any person of ethnicity any way resembling how she spoke to and treated me, I’d be considered insensitive and racist,” Bice wrote in a lengthy Facebook post about the incident. “Why is it that three or four Popeyes employees can openly mock a courteous PAYING customer in front of an airport terminal of people without any recourse and no apology?”
Bice took to Facebook on Monday to post about his experience at Popeye’s, saying all he wanted was an apology, and that he’s “tired of the racist double standards” in society. Unfortunately, Facebook’s move to censor Bice’s bullying made him even angrier.
Here’s what Bice wrote in a heated second post about the incident at the Atlanta airport fast food restaurant:
“Facebook deleted my post last night and, in turn, silenced the opinion of all of you and me who are tired of the racist double standards that have infested our society.”
“You took corporate Popeye’s side Facebook, but you should have checked the validity of their complaint. You cannot stifle my opinion and truths without it being seemingly one-sided.”
Popeye’s responded to Fox 5’s inquiry with a statement:
“Mack II Inc. is very sorry that the incident occurred and for any pain or embarrassment that Mr. Bice experienced. The company does not condone the behavior of one of our associates and we took corrective action as soon as we were made aware of the incident. Also, we will require re-training of our associates to ensure this isolated incident does not occur again. In addition, Mr. Bice has been issued an apology by the General Manager. We value all of our customers regardless of race, religion, age, disability, gender, etc.”
Bice claims in his most recent Facebook post that the woman who called him white (Bice says her name is Shawana) “wasn’t fired, and the reason she wasn’t fired is because I asked Edith Hunter her manager not to do so.”
After the broadcast, Bice took to Facebook again to respond to the social media backlash he’s received since revealing his story; he said it “proves my point that we have a major problem with racial prejudice in our country and society.”
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, Fox 5 Atlanta
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