Dancer Files Lawsuit Against Strip Clubs for Being Denied Work Because of Race
jackslash
Detroit strip clubs
Upscale, mostly white strip clubs often seem to have a limit on black dancers.
https://www.complex.com/life/houston-tex…
https://www.complex.com/life/houston-tex…
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FYI to club owners: I am white and am more likely to patronize a club with dancers of a variety of colors -- especially black ones. Just sayin'.
I've been in supposedly "upscale" clubs that clearly had a quota on black dancers, but seemed full of guys on a short fuse. I've been in clubs with almost all black dancers and customers with no apparent jackholes. People see pat-downs, metal detectors, license scans and think the club must attract a dangerous crowd. But all that seems to keep the jackholes away, they make lots of enemies, and don't want to go anyplace where they can't be strapped. It's not surprising that, if a club has dumbass management, they think they can have good security just by making the club a hostile place for black customers.
Black dancers seem often to be more shy of white customers, but I am fine with walking up to a dancer who's not busy with anyone else. Once the ice is broken, black dancers are often much more friendly. Black people generally don't seem to look down on fat people as much as white people do.
The club didn't say they didn't want any black dancers. They said they have a limit.
If you like variety in your dancers then there is going to have to be a limit on all races.
I think that club in particular is especially sensitive towards online review trashing…they cracked down on everyone after somebody complained of a ROB situation where he got charged thousands on his card. I think the club refunded him and slammed down on everybody for that—with signs up in the dressing room of what type of behavior isn’t acceptable.
In general if enough customers throw a fit, things will change IMO. And it has already started…in the form of “standards dropping” Just dig through any nickifree thread whenever he comes on once in a while 😀
Also, IMO the longer I dance the more indifferent I get to the ~💕older white gentleman💕~ that I heard as a baby stripper I’m supposed to be enamored with. Granted, there have amazing individuals. And the regulars I’ve had been mostly that group also. But also that group has the most entitled and stupid douches too. Which is saying a lot considering I’m from a Hispanic town with Mexican egos out the wazoo. So put me down as somebody who is more than happy to have an ethnically diverse clientele too.
But the bigger reason they will lose is NOT because they apparently discriminated against black employees. The "too many black dancers" policy was really a "too many black customers" policy. And that will cost them even more.
BTW: As many comments above demonstrate - the "too many black customers" policy is based on a false assumption that only black customers prefer, or even get dances from black dancers. So they implemented an insidious policy (presumably) based on their own prejudices against black people and it probably hurt their business more that it helped. So they are not only racist fucks, they are poor business fucks as well.
If she was suing a large corporation that was very concerned about their public image, I could see her settling for a nice payday.
She’s suing a strip club - and strip club management/ownership isn’t going to be very concerned about the wholesome image presented to the public.
If she succeeds and the judge has a sense of humor - maybe will have her damages be paid in singles…
Also mixed race marriages (which I consider a decent enough measure on attraction) have been on the rise in the past few years, so even white people are going to be less comfortable with the status quo as time goes on.
Source if anybody cares:
https://www.brookings.edu/research/all-r…
I’ll probably be done by then, so it doesn’t affect me personally and I don’t have any emotional stake. But I made a thread not too long ago speculating on culture reasons why the industry might continue to crumble. Whether or not that has any merit, alienating a more colored population that has already started to get into middle age is something big I forgot to mention. I do think clubs overall have already made strides there, but the next few years will be more crucial I think.
The people who ran Lusty Lady in San Francisco said they were the exception because it is dancer owned.
I have wondered if in some places they don't want black dancers for fear that they will not adhere to the rules, inherently defiant.
But then there do seem to be more clubs coming which are black clubs, and then more clubs now that are hiring blacks. Brass rail is gone now. It used to not have many blacks, but later it did.
Can't speak to what is up in Houston, but the issue seems to be diffusing.
Read stuff here, guys who don't seem to like black dancers. I think it is just a matter of social familiarity, and this is coming.
SJG
So, the fact that a dancer feels like she can make this case, and the fact that a court is likely to entertain the case in good faith shows that the workplace and discrimination laws are as applicable to strip clubs as any other business. And they should. The problem is that there's likely a surplus of owners and managers who still have that old mindset where they assume that dancers have to accept whatever bullshit gets handed to them. So, these club owners either need to accelerate their points of view, or get sued out of existence.
And, at least in some cases, there is some racism going on here. The belief that you can't have an upscale club if there's an increase of not-white dancers and/or not-white customers fits pretty squarely into the realm of bigotry.
motorhead said "Does the government force Subway to offer Durian Fruit and Casu Martzu?"
No, but that's because those things are condiments, and not human beings. At least not unless your local club is called Club Soylent Green...
AFRICAN AMERICAN: 14.1 % . Presumably, the remaining 9.4% would be such groups as Asians, Native American, Middle East (Arab), Pacific Islander, etc.
Recap, Afam's account for ~ 1/7 of USA population. Question: If club has 7 or more dancers on shift with no blacks, is that club racist/non-diverse? Hey, I don't see any Asians filing discrimination lawsuits, they account for maybe 1/20th the USA population, yet I've seen a 50 plus dancer shift with no Asians. Must a club dancer shift match the ethnic profile of the USA, or else be subject to racial discrimination charges, or some customer boycott ?
Most clubs are mediocre because local governments stop any competing clubs from opening. The number of puritanical people is dropping. But they are getting backup from people who are generally indifferent to sex work, but are disturbed by the number of Jeffery Epstein type people among sex work customers. Hopefully at some point they'll realize that you can't really stop sex work, only marginalize it, making it harder for sex workers to protect themselves from the Jeffery Epsteins.
If the government will stop fucking things up, I think we'll see clubs where you can get anything from a table dance to Greek, depending on what each chick is down for. The stage will likely still be there, with multiple poles, the dancers will get up on it when and if they feel like it. Clubs will cool it with the borderline-pimp stuff, let the customers decide who they think is good looking, let dancers work how they think is best for them.
If I live long enough to see this, I'll probably just be getting lap dances with good 2-way, cause the dancers I find most appealing won't be down for more than that.
I won’t automatically say yes, but even in ultra white Portland OR where blacks are 5.8% of the population every club I know of had at least one on shift. I briefly visited a club in Medford OR where stats say black people are 0.87%, saw one black dancer during a slow dayshift. Springfield MO blacks 4.25%, there were a couple on shift the time I went somewhere as a customer. So if there are zero black dancers, even in tiny/remote clubs, yep I’m suspicious that is on purpose.
But the whole point here *isn't* that a club's dancers should reflect that area's racial demographics. The point is that if a black person walks into a business and asks for a job, then they shouldn't be denied work because they're black.
Face it, strip clubs are a very subjective environment. Dancers of all races are going to be turned down for a variety of reasons. The ultimate bottom line is what the customer $$ will most likely buy. Clubs want to hire (or let in if independent contractor model) the most attractive/desirable dancer from customer perspective. This thread really belongs in the politics section. I'm not privy to the accept/reject ratio of club dancer applicants. So far I've only read subject dancers side of the story, which is mainly based on her opinions, and unsubstantiated allegations. (he said/did not say). I don't want this thread to be litigation/SJW central. My concern is that too many suits like this open up the potential for clubs to pass lawsuit costs on to the customer, and/or be forced to comply with racial quotas in hiring practices. Whether or not this case has actual merit, or this is someone looking for an easy payday remains to be seen. This stuff is furthest from my mind when scoping out club talent on my visits.
There are a few comments in this thread about how clubs need to hire more black girls. I don't think all club managers are racist personally they are just good at business. They know (the data backs this up) that most people are far less attracted to black women than other races. They just hire what will make money for the club as best they can.
We actually had a club in my local area with black owners who had a policy of hiring any race. It started as a mixed club but once black girls heard you could get hired there they all flocked there and they became the majority. Then customers the customers left. Eventually the club pivoted and just became a black urban club.
Clubs do have a quandary to deal with of how they want to proceed. I have my opinions but I’m fine watching from the sidelines. If they want to go the way of the taxi-dance hall did after the 1940s then that is fine.
@i bai That is one possible reason. I’ve also noticed that a LOT of black dancers travel dance, so some might have went there specifically to get to a club.
@8tm forgot to respond 😅 Yeah that’s not my favorite club either. I was just trying to have an example of the power of putting somebody under a microscope. I could be wrong but while some tactics are a bit…high pressure at that club I don’t think there’s anything pulled in that club like, for example, that Hustlers movie with drugging customers or anything.
https://www.gwern.net/docs/psychology/ok…
The mindset behind it is racist. Coz it's framed by instotutional racism.
Lawsuits may not always be won but they hit the racists where it hurts and brings attention.
I don’t have much to add to the thread topic. I went back to one place after taking a break from it and now the dancer lineup is like 50% black. It sucks mostly because my faves have all moved on or been pushed out. It used to be my favorite club in driving distance before covid and now it’s like my Plan C
I can def understand the ebony dancers’ POV and frustration having more-limited options and having a harder-time getting hired at certain-clubs – but given they rather work at a mostly-white-club gives some food-for-thought as to why club-owners may be wary of their clubs becoming mostly-black – i.e. if black-dancers don’t wanna dance at all black-clubs …
I def don’t think a club should be void of any minority dancers (and I’m not just saying that b/c I’m into chocolate) – if a club has a fair # of dancers and no minorities particularly no AA-dancers, that’s a problem and unfair an AA-dancer has almost zero-chance of getting-hired – but it can get difficult – i.e. how many AA-dancers is a “fair #” if the owner wants to keep a certain profile for the club – i.e. if a club has 15 or 20% AA-dancers; one would assume there are gonna be AA-dancers still being turned-away and thinking it’s unfair.
@CMI:. Bite me....😆
It's been a *lot* busier lately, and the girls are loving it.
https://setexasrecord.com/stories/511011…
This club has very few customers. All successful clubs discriminate in various ways when hiring. Black dancers are traditionally less popular and therefore less hired but with the changing demographics in urban areas managers have to change with the times. Georgmicrodong in a previous comment mentioned that the Louisville PT's manager had a reputation for preferring to hire skinny white girls and the club has gotten busier since he moved to Indianapolis and the Louisville club started hiring more nonwhite strippers. I live in Indianapolis and saw this manager arrive here from Louisville. He dropped the hip hop music and changed to a rock format and started hiring more skinny white girls. I liked it but I'm an old white guy and am not at all a typical customer there these days. The skinny white girls didn't make money and left, the numbers of customers dropped and this manager was replaced. His middle aged rock playing white dj was replaced too by a young black dj who now plays all hip hop music.
As strip club could claim their "product" includes a certain racial mix of "cast members".
I seriously doubt it that a quota on black dancers really part of a good strategy for a club make more money, or is part of a good strategy to have good security in the club. So market competition would help to solve this (as well as other), common problems with clubs. But then the gubment would have to stop its brain-dead policies of making it hard to open a club, and pulling their licenses on a hair trigger. Fat chance.