Central Falls Community Leader Says She Faced “Discrimination and Bias” at Ballard’s on Block Island
Friday, July 31, 2020
A Central Falls community leader and first-generation Cape Verdean American says she faced "discrimination and bias" during an incident at Ballard's on Block Island last weekend.
Carlene Fonseca, a Georgetown University graduate and Associate Director of the Feinstein Institute at Providence College, said after stopping at Ballard's for a late lunch with a friend and asking the restaurant where their food was after close to an hour, a staff member became irate -- and ultimately took their food away when it arrived, and had them escorted out.
"There was one staff member in particular that was really kind of nagging us the whole time we were there," said Fonseca. "He wasn’t waiting on us. I don’t know if he was a busboy, or what his position was."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFonseca said he told her and her friend, "You can just leave, you know" and "We don't want you here if you're going to complain."
"When the food came over, we were so excited to finally eat," said Fonseca. "The guy then told one of the wait staff and that 'we don’t need to eat,' took away our food, and had us escorted out. They literally started packing up our stuff."
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"He didn't say anything about race, but there just felt like underpinnings," said Fonseca, of the white staff member who told a minority staff member to take their food away.
"They escorted us out into a public space," said Fonseca, who had been in the indoor dining room. "I’ve never experienced that type of behavior before. It was uncalled for."
"I’m part of Leadership Rhode Island. I feel like if I were part of that group, it wouldn’t have happened," said Fonseca.
Reaching Out to Restaurant
Fonseca, who originally posted about the incident the day after it happened, said she thought for several days about writing the restaurant a letter about what happened -- which she provided to GoLocal.
"As we were walking out at least 3 staff and the 'security' guard chased us out the building, taunting us and humiliating us all the way out the boardwalk. I then approached a state trooper who was there and he was no help, telling me to be quiet and walked away from me," Fonseca wrote in her letter.
"Our voices can not continue to be silenced by those in privileged positions. The staff continued to ask me for payment despite not giving me the chance to eat, after taking the food from me like I was an animal. I believe after we left they were so enraged that they tried to find anything to degrade me," she continued. "This entire situation could have been prevented if someone just paused a minute and tried to understand our situation instead of being combative, unprofessional and discriminatory."
"I can’t 100% say what the reason was for their actions, but I know in my heart it was wrong," she continued in her letter. "Whether it was indirect or direct, the actions of this particular staff member and others made me feel absolutely uneasy, unwelcome and I was meant to feel less than. Sometimes discrimination and prejudice may not be so overt, but those microagressions are felt. As a woman of color what I felt, I felt before when a store clerk followed me around the Nordstrom and when I’m in a Council meeting and a colleague told me to simmer down. Covert discrimination and racism exist in stores, restaurants, and formal establishments all over the country."
Fonseca had served as President Pro-Temp in her 3rd year on the Central Falls City Council.
Ballard's Responds
When reached for comment, Ballard's said they had not yet received the letter.
"This is the first we have heard of this experience that Ms. Fonseca's claims to have occurred. Had we been notified directly via phone or writing we would have addressed it with her personally. We feel these claims are unfortunate and uncharacteristic of the experience we provide our guests on a daily basis," said Kimberly Poland, spokesperson for Ballard's.
"We would welcome a personal conversation with Ms. Fonseca's and welcome her back to enjoy a meal on us. Ballards has a predominantly minority staff who have worked for us many years. We pride ourselves on a tradition of inclusivity. Ballards has not nor will it ever participate in any discrimination based on an individual's race, religion, age, sex, disability, or sexual orientation," she added.
Fonseca said she would "welcome" the opportunity to speak with Ballard's.
"I want people to feel they’re welcome everywhere in Rhode Island," said Fonseca. "If you’re a woman, person of color, of a different religion — it didn’t have to get to that point.
"We would have come to a common understanding — but they didn’t feel the need to," she said. "I want all places that deal with customers to have cultural training and dealing with microaggressions. It might not be overt but the underpinnings were there. I had other people say they had similar experiences there — it’s part of a larger system."
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