A Black Texas woman schooled a Hilton Honors Hotel receptionist for treating her differently from other customers on Thanksgiving. The exchange definitely left neither of them happy on Thanksgiving. A TikTok video showed the disgruntled customer approaching the reception desk to confront the receptionist. She recalled that he had approached her at the breakfast table and accused her of not being a paying customer.
“Before you said anything to me, you said ‘Do you have a room here?’ and I said ‘Good morning to you, sir,’” the woman explained, saying she had told him it was the wrong way to approach people because he didn’t even greet. The woman recounted that the receptionist accused her of not having a key, “You said, ‘I’m sure you don’t have a key.” When the receptionist tried to calm the woman down, telling her she didn’t need to raise her voice, the woman ignored it as she continued to drive her point home.
“That was racist as hell!” she bellowed, pointing out that the receptionist did not ask any of the other “5 or 6 White people” in the same space if they had a room there. The receptionist tried to defend himself, saying, “They had been here since 8 o’clock, ma’am!” After a couple of moments of the woman going off on him, the receptionist finally said, “It’s fine, I apologize.” She continued, “Change your approach on the way you approach people, especially early in the [expletive] morning. You approach people, and you say ‘Good morning’, you say ‘happy holidays’”, noting that she respected if he did not celebrate said holiday. “But, you gon approach people the way that you approach any other human being.”
She finally threw her key on the counter and asked the man if what he had done was appropriate. “Happy Thanksgiving, and have a good [expletive] day,” the customer concluded, walking off. The clip sparked diverse reactions from Internet users. “Discrimination happens so naturally, they don’t even notice it,” a TikToker wrote in the comments, agreeing the receptionist’s actions were racist. Another was not pleased by the fact that the receptionist tried to get the woman to lower her voice, “I don’t see anything wrong with matching energy! He tried to embarrass her in front of people, so he couldn’t dictate her response.”
A few users advised her to take legal action. “File a complaint with corporate,” one urged. “That’s a discrimination lawsuit. I sued a hotel for discrimination. He also admitted to it,” another chimed in. “Racism is NOT offensive to anyone who hasn’t been discriminated against. Some of us deal with this shyt daily, and it’s [expletive] exhausting,” a user wrote, while another added, “It’s sickening that we have to go through this.”
However, some other users blamed the woman for the entire exchange. “It’s a simple matter whether posted or not. The hotel’s breakfast is for those with rooms, show your key and enjoy. If not, you’re stealing and should go to jail,” one explained. “For the safety and security of all and as a hotelier, there is nothing wrong with asking you if you are a guest. If he didn’t greet you, you should’ve addressed Hilton Worldwide. Viral moment request will fall flat,” a second one noted.
Someone else who felt each of them contributed to the issue wrote, “1. The employee should approach everyone the same. He was definitely at fault. 2. Why is it so difficult to answer with a room number? I understand the guest was upset she was singled out due to her race, but a simple answer would have avoided the problem.”
