Two weeks ago, writer Lena Geller reported on a local restaurant owner’s use of a racial slur and the fallout that followed, including the restaurant’s staff quitting their jobs en masse. The story quickly went viral, and we received dozens of messages from readers expressing their support for the workers, shock that a white business owner would use the word in a professional setting, and disappointment at the situation overall. Some are excerpted below:  

From reader Linda Brown, via email:

​​I am a black woman and much saddened by this article. 

There was a teachable moment about a complex issue that got lost in this entire incident.

I would hope that all involved could come back together with a mediator and talk this out. If they are ever able to do so each will have a much deeper understanding of the issue and may be able to forge far stronger relationships.

From reader Anne Havisham, via Facebook:

She failed to understand that the word falls upon the brain and heart differently when it’s said with an -er suffix by white people and when it’s said with an -a suffix by Black people. In 2024, not knowing that is pretty unusual, I think.

Not knowing is a problem, not the problem.

She criticized—and repeated—a word that’s used by some Black folks as a kind of self-defense (“If we say a version of it within the circle, it might not hurt quite so much when it’s being slung at us from outside the circle”).

Instead of asking why and how that word was used, instead of seeking understanding, she assumed that she knew. She did not know. 

The former staff’s solidarity is heartening. I hope they are able to find and/or create the kind of teamwork in other workplaces that they’d enjoyed previously. May the affection and respect of their friends, families, colleagues, neighbors, and other allies help to heal what was inexcusably harmed.

From reader Joe Lurie, via email:

These type of issues are complex and hard to discuss, especially across multiple generations. I just hope everyone involved can stand back a bit and not lose sight of what a great thing they created at PLUM before it went sideways and try to find a little forgiveness in their hearts. It does seem to me that Lisa took responsibility for not expressing herself properly but with all of the emotions around the subject, it can be really difficult to get back to where your relationships were while continuing to run a business. 

We also received some notes from readers attempting to understand the owner’s point of view and critiquing our framing of the incident and the events that followed. We’re excerpting a few here:

From Rabbi Jonathan Gerard, via email:

Plum’s owner, Lisa Callaghan, is clearly not a racist—illustrated by her initial request to turn off a song repeatedly using the “N word.” What staff members then took offense at was her defending her request to stop the offensive song, a defense in which she herself used the word she found offensive. And then, making matters worse, she proceeded that day and subsequently, to attempt to discuss with individual members of her staff why they were offended. How could this usage have offended the staff members and their co-workers, she wondered? Rather, it was an opportunity to have an adult conversation about why certain staff members were offended (such that they all eventually resigned in sympathy with the initial two who were upset).

It is one thing to use the N-word as a slur. It is not self-evident to me (nor, apparently, to Lisa Callaghan) what is offensive about using the word when one wishes to discuss the nature of the word’s toxicity. 

From reader Katherine Olvetti, via email:

I have known Lisa Callaghan since 1987 in a professional context. Lisa is a citizen who in all her personal and professional life has professed a deeply felt commitment to inclusivity, equal opportunity, and individual rights. I know as she set out to fulfill a life-long dream of founding a restaurant, it was a priority for her to develop a staff of diversity, create an environment of safety, and provide warm and hospitable service in an environment that authentically reflected that sensibility. 

The slant of your story fails to communicate how hard she worked to create such an environment. In addition, in her efforts to create opportunities for her staff, she routinely paid them above the required minimum fair wage in order to afford them a living wage. At her cost, she arranged health insurance for her employees, something few restauranteurs provide. Her response to offensive language in music that was playing in her enterprise did not reflect the values she held, and she appropriately objected.

On the whole, readers agreed the owner should have handled the situation differently. From Madeline Seyhan, via Facebook:

imo the full story is worse than the headline. Reciting the lyrics to complain is one thing, but the way she handled the response was insane: firing the black staff member who disagreed with her and then firing the head chef because he didn’t rush to her defense is childish at best, narcissistic at worse. Trying to pay the black employee effectively hush money in the hopes they will “speak positively” of them after being fired is wild too. I think that the unanimous quitting of all staff should also have served as a strong statement on her character, people don’t compromise their livelihood like that lightly.

Comment on this story at [email protected].