More on the Diva Lounge Incident
Dec. 7th, 2006 04:55 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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davis_squareI stopped into Diva today to ask if they had anything to say about the incident described in Monday's piece in the the Tufts Daily. The person I spoke to (a manager) said there was a meeting underway about the issue and that if I wanted to, I could come back and talk to the people involved. He said there was a lot of misunderstanding and that the issue was about a patron, not management.
For more info on Diva's side of the story, see a followup article in yesterday's Tufts Daily. (There was also an editorial on the subject in yesterday's issue.)
If anyone else has talked to them, what have you been told? There may be additional word after this afternoon's meeting, if anybody else can stop in later.
Of course, Namaskar still has way better food. :)
For more info on Diva's side of the story, see a followup article in yesterday's Tufts Daily. (There was also an editorial on the subject in yesterday's issue.)
If anyone else has talked to them, what have you been told? There may be additional word after this afternoon's meeting, if anybody else can stop in later.
Of course, Namaskar still has way better food. :)
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 02:26 am (UTC)Having read it, I can see how this could have happened in a way that felt to each side like each side is reporting....
no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 12:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 03:28 am (UTC)That's because it's run by Bengalis!
That's right, I said it.
(Just trying to foment some intra-Desi bickering here, Indians do better when it has to do with subcontinent prejudices)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 05:19 am (UTC)memory, witnesses, and keeping our heads
Date: 2006-12-08 04:46 am (UTC)I grew up in Houston, TX in a bus-integrated school district with kids from many different 'hoods. We had our share of black/white/latino racial tension, but mostly things were OK. It was rarely an "us vs. them" racial dynamic on the playground between kids, maybe because there was a palpable "us vs. them" dynamic between the kids and the "mean" teachers. ("Mean" really meant just that, and was a color-blind term for the harshest disciplinarians. At that time HISD teachers had paddles, and would beat kids for some infractions.)
I'm not a school kid anymore — I'm an MIT Ph.D. with a doctorate earned in part for my research on human memory. One of the things I can tell you about memory as that 60% of all memory is reconstruction. This is only one reason why individual eye witnesses, even unbiased witnesses under the best of circumstances, are not reliable. And none of the reports I've seen about this incident have been from anything like an unbiased witness.
I'm pretty sure that something happened at Diva Lounge that night, and it probably involved a drunk patron, some ugly language, and less than totally responsive management. But it would be a mistake to assume that the events, as related by any of the disputing witnesses are a true, accurate, and complete accounts.
Racism is ugly and real, and the allegations are serious. This incident should be taken seriously and investigated. If the original allegations are true, action against Diva is warranted. But if not, and Diva's business is materially hurt by the negative publicity of unfounded allegations, it would be a real injustice.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 02:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-08 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 02:25 pm (UTC)meeting yesterday at tufts
Date: 2006-12-09 04:03 pm (UTC)The company that owns Diva and others...
Date: 2006-12-09 06:17 pm (UTC)The site lists all the restaurants they own. I'm not a fan of their food.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-13 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:21 pm (UTC)I heard a second-hand account that on Valentine's Day, Diva was giving flowers to couples, but refused to give a flower to a lesbian couple. Anyone know anything about this or any else regarding Diva and and possible homophobia?
There are lots of ways to protect yourself from crap from drunks
Date: 2006-12-13 11:00 am (UTC)There are at least two other different Somerville venues. First, the licensing commission, who must both license a facility and enforce the terms of that license. They've not always been as sensitive as they might, and it would certainly give teeth to that enforcement to have a video from a cell. There's lots more muscle when it's not merely a matter of he-said, she-said.
And then, certainly, the police department. In that there are all kinds of interesting things, since the Chief is Acting, the politics of his appointment are still unresolved, and therefore the accountability is both the Chief and the Mayor.
Do not be afraid of politics in stirring up such matters. Politics can be your friend. Now more than ever there is substance and reality to local politics in Somerville, but it is - always - up to those who are most offended to ask for and use help. Yet there is plenty of help to get. Use it.
Re: There are lots of ways to protect yourself from crap from drunks
Date: 2006-12-13 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-14 07:22 pm (UTC)