Aireal Bonner was at Southern Kitchen & Bar in Birmingham, Alabama on a Friday when her outfit drew unwanted attention. According to Bonner, she was "rudely mistreated" by the restaurant staff, who kicked her out of the establishment over her attire, but Bonner said she had doubts that her clothing was the issue. Instead, she took to Facebook with a video of the incident, calling the establishment "racist."
The footage captured by Bonner and posted to social media starts with Bonner and an employee of the establishment having a conversation over the customer's attire. During the exchange, Bonner is offered a shirt at no cost to her and asked to put it on over her crocheted top, which the restaurant claimed was a "bikini top" and not appropriate for the restaurant's family-friendly atmosphere.
After refusing to cover up, Bonner was asked to leave as the restaurant maintained that her top violated the establishment's dress code. Undeterred, Bonner is seen in the video footage, asking where the dress code was posted. In response, the employee claimed the dress code did not need to be posted because the restaurant is a privately owned business.
At that point, Bonner instructed the employee to tell the owner to come and tell her himself that she needed to cover up with a t-shirt. Instead, she says she was threatened with police involvement. The manager allegedly threatened to call the cops if she didn't exit the premises, according to Opposing Views.
"I was threatened with police action simply because I wanted to sit and eat in an outfit that I felt comfortable and happy in," Bonner alleged in a post on Facebook. "There was no customer complaint that prompted the situation. This was purely the way that the 'owner' chose to run his business," she added, but in her video clip, she made even stronger accusations against the restaurant, calling it racist.
After saying "F*ck" the restaurant, Bonner instructed viewers not to eat there, adding that the staff is "racist" and "slut-shame," as she called the establishment "disgusting." When speaking with CBS 42 after the incident, Bonner doubled down on her doubt that her clothing was the reason she was kicked out, further claiming race played a part.
"My clothing was an excuse to not have me dine there," Bonner alleged. "I think the biggest issue with my appearance is that I look very Afro-centric. My hair is an Afro texture. The way that I dress is Afro-centric. So I believe that because they can't directly say things like 'We don't like the color of your skin, we don't like the way that your hair looks,' my clothing was just used as an excuse."
