WaPo: The Red Hen Restaurant owner speaks up almost a year after asking Sarah Sanders to leave

[Fritz Walter]

Resistance isn't Futile.

I’ve been getting hate mail for almost a year now, ever since I asked White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to leave my Lexington, Va., restaurant, the Red Hen, last June.

At the time, the country was in turmoil over the Trump administration’s heinous practice of separating children from their parents at our southern border. In our tiny 26-seat restaurant, the horror felt simultaneously immediate and far away.

Faced with the prospect of serving a fine meal to a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity, we balked. We couldn’t do it.

...

In the days following, I tried to balance fears for the safety of my family and staff against the reality of being well-protected in a small, loving community. Overhanging it all was a sense that I’d seen this show before; don’t we all have ringside seats to the outrage circus these days? But there was plenty I couldn’t predict or assess: How likely was it, really, that the guy texting me from a Minneapolis area code was really going to come to town to set fire to our restaurant? It felt impossible to know.

There's a happy ending, and I won't spoil it for you here, other than to say that the Red Hen Restaurant is still in business.

If you can't get past the pay-wall, I'll try to add a few more great quotes in the comments.

[CrispyQ]

1. Wish I could give this a hundred recs.

Yet, as I kept opening the letters, I saw a pattern. For every hateful message, there was one of gratitude. For every angry accusation that our actions were driven by the inability to accept Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss, there was a note of thanks from someone lamenting Trump’s rollback of protections for marginalized people. What’s more, for every wish that our business die a painful death, there was a dollar bill or a generous check or an order for a gift certificate.

[Jake Stern]

2. Hypocritically many of those frothing at the mouth over this

are the same ones who defended that baker's right to refuse to make a cake for a same sex couple

[Judi Lynn]

3. After the Post ran this opinion peace, they gave permission to another newspaper

to run it to, with attribution. Sometimes that happens, if we're lucky. I thought I should check because some of us, like me, use up their free looks, and can't get in again soon at the Post, NY Times, etc. Here it is from MassLive:

Red Hen restaurant owner who asked Sarah Sanders to leave says ‘resistance is not futile’ (Commentary)
Updated 1:55 PM; Today 1:44 PM



AP

Passersby examine the menu at the Red Hen Restaurant Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Lexington, Va. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that she was booted from the Virginia restaurant because she works for President Donald Trump. Sanders said she was told by the owner of The Red Hen that she had to "leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left." (AP Photo/Daniel Lin)


By The Washington Post

By Stephanie Wilkinson

''Hello Intolerant, intellectually-challenged, psychotic, socialists!

"Your so-called business is in jeopardy. Rest assured this is not a threat but simply a warning that predicts your downfall. . . . When your treasonist hypocrite lowlife Obama took our nation into despair (for 8 yrs) we didn’t do or say the things you do. Get over it, before it’s too late! BTW, there are a lot more of us than there are of you.''

I’ve been getting hate mail for almost a year now, ever since I asked White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to leave my Lexington, Virginia, restaurant, the Red Hen, last June.

At the time, the country was in turmoil over the Trump administration’s heinous practice of separating children from their parents at our southern border. In our tiny 26-seat restaurant, the horror felt simultaneously immediate and far away.

Faced with the prospect of serving a fine meal to a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity, we balked. We couldn’t do it.

More:
https://www.masslive.com/opinion/2019/05/red-hen-restaurant-owner-who-asked-sarah-sanders-to-leave-says-resistance-is-not-futile-commentary.html

Thanks for posting this article/statement from the owner of the restaurant, Fritz Walter. It's great hearing her comments, and I most dearly hope someone isn't waiting until he think it's all died down before he moves in to do right-wing stuff to them. Hope the local police will be paying extra attention, watching closely for any right-wing wierdness, and I'd bet they will be.

[Fritz Walter]

4. You're most welcome!

And thank you for posting another option for DUers to read this piece.

Mere nanoseconds after I posted this, someone else shared a link to the same story. Great minds think alike, huh? I welcome that! The more exposure we can offer to brave progressives, the better!

Although I was born in central Virginia, it’s been ages since I’ve been back. I should make that a priority, including a trip to Red Hen!