Written by: @1ALMIGHTYWARE (Chris Ware)
If you are a student at Georgia Southern or a resident of Statesboro, chances are you have either seen or heard about the local bar, previously known as Rumrunners, changing its name to ‘Rumrunners Plantation Room.’ Not only have they changed their name to this insensitive title but they have affixed two Confederate flags on their bar sign to top it off.
I’m sure the argument will be made that it is the business’s first amendment right to name their sub-par bar anything they want. Well, if that’s the case, I will exercise my first amendment right to discredit this appalling and offensive gesture by the owner of this bar. If you know anything about the Plaza in Statesboro where this and a few other bars are located, they go out of their way to make black students feel uncomfortable when they visit. The stares, the extremely strict and seemingly subjective dress code, and poor service are all reasons why many black students tend to not visit the Plaza and especially Rumrunners. But this move by Rumrunners serves as the figurative icing on the cake.
Let me be clear, I am not only speaking for myself in this article, I am speaking for hundreds of like-minded black students at Georgia Southern who feel the same as I do. We know what the underlying message is behind those confederate flags. We know what you are alluding to with the words “Plantation Room.” With that being said, we don’t want to drink at your bar. We don’t want to spend our hard-earned money to fuel your narrow-minded, uncultured environment that you work so hard to produce on a nightly basis. But we will be respected, and we will see that the name of this bar is changed, by any means necessary.
The blatant disrespect has gone too far and a tipping point has been reached. We will no longer sit on our hands and continue to watch these reprehensible actions continue to protrude our lives and make us feel uncomfortable in a city that we have every right to occupy. This situation is only causing more division and tension in our community. The year is not 1814, this is 2014, and people should act and treat each other accordingly.
Help get the name changed by signing this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/rum-runner-s-plantation-room-change-the-name?recruiter=79496005&utm_campaign=twitter_link&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition …
