[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 68 (Thursday, May 26, 1994)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [Congressional Record: May 26, 1994] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] OUTRAGE IN BOSTON ______ HON. TOM LANTOS of california in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 25, 1994 Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to read the following OP-ED by Bob Herbert from today's New York Times. It describes a flagrant violation of anti-discrimination laws and a violation of the principles upon which our society prospers. We cannot let incidents such as this be swept under the rug and explained away as mistakes. I am outraged that, at the request of a visitor to our country, the management of the Four Seasons Hotel decided to ignore a hundred years of progress in racial relations. Mr. Speaker, this travesty speaks for itself and I urge my colleagues to take note of it. Outrage In Boston It was the kind of ugliness you expected from the South in the 1950's, but it happened last week in one of the great hotels of Boston. The Prime Minister of India, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and his entourage checked into the Four Seasons Hotel late on the night of May 16. Thirty-six rooms were booked for Mr. Rao and the approximately 50 aides who accompanied him. There was also a contingent of U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the Prime Minister, who was to speak at Harvard the next day. Now in a great hotel like the Four Seasons, there is a surge of excitement and activity when important guests arrive. A variety of tasks have to be carried out by parking attendants, bellhops, clerks, maids, waiters and the like. Last week at the Four Seasons, any of those tasks done for the Prime Minister of India had to be done by white people. No African-Americans could carry his bags, no Asians could clean his room, no Latinos could serve him his food. At the direction of a hotel official, the Prime Minister had to be served by whites only, American or European. The offense was so blatant and egregious that the head of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination could not at first believe it. The initial reaction of the commission chairman, Michael T. Duffy, was that the allegation, made by hotel employees, was ``too outrageous to be true.'' He ordered an investigation. It turned out that the Four Seasons official, who has not been publicly named, had notified hotel supervisors in a memorandum that nonwhites were not to serve the Prime Minister. This was confirmed by the hotel's general manager, Robin Brown, who said, ``There was a memo that went out to a number of employees saying that only certain nationalities should service the Prime Minister's room.'' Mr. Brown has made extensive public apologies on behalf of the hotel and has described the memo and its aftermath as ``very, very stupid and unforgivable and painful.'' But how could the flap have happened? To carry out the directive, some nonwhite employees had to be shifted from their normal duties. How could anyone at the hotel have thought that was all right? Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that led to the dismantling of legal segregation in the United States. Clearly there are many who remain untouched by the spirit of that ruling. Two African-American bellhops, Harrison Lilly and Jose Abad, were among those told by Four Seasons supervisors that they couldn't assist the Prime Minister or his party. Mr. Lilly, the night bellman, said he was given paperwork to do. He was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying, ``I felt when it happened that they had traded my eight years of service for one night of revenue.'' Four Seasons officials, while acknowledging that what happened was wrong, contend that hotel employees were carrying out a request made by the Prime Minister's security people, who felt that Mr. Rao would be safer if only white waited on him. The security people, according to hotel officials, were worried about the possibility of an assassination attempt or some other terrorist act. The Indian Government has denied that any request was made that pertained to the racial or ethnic background of hotel staff members. The Four Seasons is doing its best to make the controversy disappear. Hotel officials have apologized to Mr. Lilly and Mr. Abad, and have reimbursed them a total of $179 for lost gratuities. The two bellhops, who had filed charges with the Commission Against Discrimination, have withdrawn their compliant. Mr. Brown, the general manager, has said he would like the ``healing'' to begin. But hold on. What happened at the Four Seasons last week was a moral outrage. Mr. Duffy said yesterday that the commission's investigation was continuing. Additionally, the United States Government has an interest in knowing whether a foreign head of state has been fostering racial discrimination here. That should be thoroughly investigated. And the hotel, which insists that it will not tolerate discrimination, needs to show that it's serious. There are times when heads should roll and this is one of them. ____________________