Whitten Inn Demonstration, Taos, New Mexico

On Nov. 14, 2009, demonstrators from several civil rights groups gathered in Taos, New Mexico USA to protest the alleged racially-biased employment policies of hotel-owner Larry Whitten. Last summer, Whitten fired employees as part of what he claims was common business practice after he purchased the Paragon Inn in Taos. Fired employees of the hotel, now called The Whitten Inn, allege the owner engaged in discriminatory practices and have picketed the business since then.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Whitten Inn
• Taos
• New Mexico
• Larry Whitten
• Brown Berets
• ACLU
• Hispanic
• civil rights
• The Taos News
• discrimination
• protest

[PochoPatriot]

How can anyone take this protest seriously?  You have Brown Berets (a very bigoted and ethno-centric organization) chanting "Raza (race) si"? How is that bring people together? Just another joke by people that are just as bigoted as they accuse Mr. Whitten of being.

[picandroll]

It's the American consumer that he needs to please.

Move past the ethnic group. It has no relevance as call centers and such apply nicknames to anyone with a difficult name to pronounce, and with no duplication. That's what people from around America have tried to tell these two families in Taos.

Your not special, go find a job elsewhere if your unwilling to do the work.

[MrSergio575]

oh god I swear Taos people are all talk. I made a mistake moving here

[1CME90]

FART...

[88donja]

As an african American im telling you the NCAAP is a waste, they ain't fixing the black community no more all they do is jump on some racist claim band wagon.. I WISH MLK WAS ALIVE, HE WOULD BE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS!!

[420mariahjane]

@backspacetube its funny how he said the lations own the land...they forget they stole it from the native americans.

[420mariahjane]

All these protesters are extreme racists themselves who are just money hungry

[Bumblesbettedavis]

So should I hire a lawyer for the three hotels I applied for in my town as a maid. They didn't hire me because I'm white and DON'T SPEAK SPANISH!

[backspacetube]

They can keep their names, except when working the switchboard where they use a pseudonym.

They can speak their own language except when talking in front of the owner. It's considered very impolite for bilinguagal people to talk a different language in front of others.

Whitten's business is on land owned by the Latino's? Sometimes people are their own worse enemy.

[angelstar22]

Most of the people who work in this town have lived in this area for many, many generations and they should be allowed to keep their Spanish names and speak their own language without being discriminated against.

[angelstar22]

I'm all for the protesters.

I think the owner of the Whitten Inn has finally come around to reason.

He was making them change their names to "white" names and making them not speak Spanish! That stinks and shouldn't be allowed anywhere.

I am happy that they protested.

[oortiz915]

Many latinos live in New Mexico, since it was formerly of Mexico, the hotel owner cant tell them to stop speaking spanish, thats their Native land.