Government Investigates Racism Allegations At Mother's

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Oct 26, 2009 2:00PM

Last week, six black students, all males, from Washington University in St. Louis alleged they and some friends were not allowed in to Mother's Night Club and claimed their race as the reason. At the time, the bar claimed the students were in violation of its dress code, including baggy pants. The students turned away alleged that white students with equally or more baggy pants were allowed inside and at one point, one of the denied students, Senior Regis Murayi, switched pants with a student who had been allowed inside and was still denied entry. In an interview with the Tribune, representatives of the bar said other black students had been admitted and pointed out a photo of two of the denied students wearing backwards baseball caps, insisting the caps were associated with gangs and that it was concern over gang violence which led to the denial of entry. Murayi countered, “In and of itself that’s racial in that they automatically assumed that we were a gang."

In the wake of these allegations comes the announcement that both the state of Illinois and the federal government have launched investigations into the incident, including an inquiry by the FBI. Last week, the students denied entry filed complaints. According to Student Life, Washington University's student newspaper:

Murayi, treasurer of Senior Class Council, filed complaints with the Chicago Commission on Human Rights, the Illinois attorney general’s office and the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the complaints, Murayi alleged that the bar’s refusal to admit the students constituted discrimination under the Chicago Municipal Code, which prohibits places of public accommodations from discriminating against clientele based on race. Race discrimination is also a federal offense under Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Murayi told Student Life the group is planning a lawsuit against the bar. Washington University chancellor Mark Wrighton joined the fray, sending a letter to Mayor Daley expressing his "intense disappointment" with the incident.