Online racial comments by two Lake View bar owners prompted current and former patrons of Jake’s Pub to create a Facebook event when black people were invited to meet at the bar to discuss polarizing language.
The event, “Black People Meet At Jake’s Pub Tonight,” is in response to a Facebook post written by a former patron, who is biracial, objecting the use of the n-word by people who aren’t black.
The event was Monday night.
The Facebook invite states:
So the owner of Jake’s Pub and his niece had a social media meltdown today about black people, repeatedly using the n-word, they don’t like to see them, etc. Who wants to go to Jake’s in Lakeview tonight? This public. Invite ya besties. Ordering water and sipping slow encouraged.
White employees of Jake’s Pub, a family-owned bar at 2932 N. Clark St., took to the pub’s Facebook fan page over the weekend to justify their use of the slur.
After word spread regarding the slur, Facebook and Yelp users left hundreds of negative comments alleging that racism runs rampant at Jake’s.
A Reddit post documents the incident.
Eater Chicagofirst reported the now-deleted Facebook posts by bar manager Ashley Elmore and her uncle, owner Scott Johnson, and the meetup.
The website reported that Elmore uses her dog’s name, Hanzo Johnson, when posting on Facebook. Elmore said this in response to the woman’s post by saying, “Jesus you literally hate white people almost as much as you hate yourself.”
Attempts to reach the management at Jake’s Pub by the Sun-Times were unsuccessful.
