But Was The Restaurant Employee Wrong?

By: Summer

The dictionary defines the word darky as a black or dark-skinned person, but after a restaurant employee made a note referring to a black woman as darky, blacks began calling for a boycott. Whose side are you on?

Radio host and gospel artist Darlene McCoy said she was dining at an Atlanta cheesesteak restaurant when an employee wrote a racial slur on her receipt.

McCoy took to Instagram this past weekend and shared her story with her followers. 

“I just had a very racist situation happen to be me right here in Buckhead,” McCoy said in the video.

She recalled ordering a vegetable cheesesteak from Woody’s Cheesesteaks in Buckhead when she noticed the cashier wrote “Darky” instead of “Darlene” in the section where the worker should have written her name, Atlanta Black Star reported.

McCoy then addressed the incident with the cashier and asked why he would write a racial slur instead of her name. He told her it was nothing to worry about and needed it for his records. She then demanded the worker change her name, but he refused.

“I don’t want to be called Darky, so cancel my order or give me my money back,” she said.

The man denied her request and said, “I’m not doing that. I don’t give money back. I don’t give refunds.”

When McCoy’s order was ready, the man said her name condescendingly after she demanded her name be corrected.

She then walked to the counter to pick up her food and asked for a copy of her receipt. The man initially didn’t adhere to her request and said she was making a big deal out of nothing.

McCoy said the worker told her, “It’s nothing. I mean I just put Darky just for me.”

“I’m a Black woman. That is extremely insensitive, and I asked you to change it. You told me you wouldn’t change it. I asked you to give me my money back because I don’t even want the food. You said you don’t give refunds,” she explained to the worker.

Thousands of online users, including gospel legend Fred Hammond, supported McCoy and urged her to take action against the worker and the establishment.

“Don’t let him slide with that!!! Make as big a stink as you can?” Hammond wrote in the post’s comment section.

Fox 5 reported that Woody’s owner Steve Renner issued a statement and apologized to McCoy for the worker’s actions.

“First and foremost, I’m sorry to Darlene about the experience Darlene had today. It’s not what we’re about at Woody’s. We’re about inclusivity, diversity. We’re about respect for everybody,” Renner said.

“He uses abbreviations a lot…he was typing the name ‘Darly.’ Unfortunately, the ‘K’ and the ‘L’ are next to each other. He simply hit the ‘K’ instead of the ‘L,’” he added.

Atlanta Black Star reported Renner said the employee is of Hispanic descent, although he did not reveal his name.

Woody’s corporate office also issued a statement and confirmed it launched an investigation into the incident, per Atlanta News First.

“At Woody’s Cheesesteaks, we care deeply about treating all guests with respect. Recently a guest experienced an incident that was not aligned with the values our business upholds and the service our customers expect. Through an internal investigation, we did find the incident resulted by mistake; nevertheless, it should not have. We have apologized to the customer, issued a refund and are actively working with our staff to ensure this does not occur again.”