A server at a Cincinnati-area Texas Roadhouse says he doesn't want to be seen as a victim after a viral TikTok about his confrontation with a group of diners decked in Confederate flag garb, who he says were demeaning and used racist language, became a national news story.
Arthur Mandy, a 41-year-old server at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in West Chester, said he wasn't happy when he learned a coworker made the video and posted it to social media.
"It was embarrassing. I don't want everybody to know about that," Mandy said. "And I felt like it wasn't her story to tell."
Group of diners at Texas Roadhouse seen wearing clothing with confederate flags, overheard using racial slurs
Mandy said it was nearing 9 p.m. on April 29 when the group of 11 diners came into the restaurant. Some of the diners were rude, degrading and wouldn't even look at him, Mandy said, adding that during the course of serving the table, one of the diners repeatedly referred to him as "boy."
A couple of times, Mandy said, he even overheard some members of the group use racial slurs. He said the restaurant's other guests near the table started to become agitated as they picked up on what was happening.
Mandy, who is Black, said one woman wore a Confederate flag sweatsuit, some of the diners wore black jackets with Confederate flag patches and a child who was with the group even had on a Confederate flag onesie.
While the Confederate flag has been adopted by some as "a symbol of Southern heritage," it commonly serves as an emblem of slavery and white supremacy making it popular among hate groups, even those outside the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
'Like I wasn't even a person'
Mandy said he was angry and shaking as he put the table's dinner order into the computer. He said he stepped outside to regain his composure and replay in his mind what had happened, but that's when he started to break down.
"There's anger, there's sadness, there's embarrassment, there's humiliation, there's all these feelings but I cannot react," Mandy said, adding that he was worried the diners might make a scene if he did. He tried to force himself to go back inside and finish serving them, but he was just too emotional.
"It was basically like I wasn't even a person," Mandy said. "I was just like gum on the bottom of their shoe."
His managers and coworkers checked on him several times while he was serving the table, he said, and management eventually stepped in and took over service for him. The diners complained about the food, he said, and the restaurant comped $268 off their check.
Mandy said there was a confrontation between the restaurant's staff and the diners, who refused to leave until Mandy came out and spoke to them, which ended with a manager threatening to call the police.
Texas Roadhouse responds to the incident
"While the guests were not rude or disruptive upon entering the restaurant, because of their subsequent behavior, they are no longer welcome in the restaurant," a Texas Roadhouse spokesperson said in a statement to The Enquirer. "While we cannot ensure the actions of guests who enter our restaurants, Texas Roadhouse does not condone any form of harassment or discrimination by guests towards employees."
The restaurant's management responded to the situation once they were made aware, the spokesperson said, adding the restaurant chain's managers receive training that prepares them to de-escalate such situations.
Mandy said he took a few days off work to process what happened, but he's asking Texas Roadhouse for paid time off and counseling. He said he denied the counseling services initially offered by the company because he wants to choose a counselor more "culturally aligned" with him.
While it was certainly traumatizing, Mandy, who's worked in restaurants for over 20 years, said he had no intentions of publicizing the incident and that he planned to deal with it privately. That all changed when the video, which has over 67,000 likes, went viral and reporters started reaching out.
"I wasn't trying to be a martyr or join a cause, I was just trying to come to work and do my job," he said. "It's bad enough that everybody at work had to see me crying ... pretty much the whole country knows about it."
"This is not what I wanted at all," Mandy said, adding that while he was hurt by the way the diners treated him, his story of being discriminated against simply because of his race isn't special and he doesn't want to be treated as a victim for the rest of his life.
"I know that what I went through was real," he said. "It took me a while to get my head wrapped around it when I was standing out back by the dumpsters but, you know, it happened."
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