Debate about the Power & Light District's controversial dress code is moving from City Hall to the Jackson County courthouse.
Standing near the entrance to the KC Live! block, members of an extended African-American family described the discrimination they felt they encountered on a visit to the downtown entertainment district in August. The family is represented by superlawyer Arthur Benson, who says venues inside the district monitor racial composition in an effort to prevent the clientele mix from getting "too dark."
On Tuesday, Benson sent a letter to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Khiana Leapheart, a 34-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, resident. The letter states that Leapheart and six relatives celebrating a family reunion were prevented from entering Mosaic Lounge because the much-debated dress code was unfairly enforced.
A member of Leapheart's party, J.D. Bell III, said today that a door attendant at Mosaic asked him to tuck in his shirt. Bell says he complied but was still denied entrance, even as similarly dressed whites were allowed in the club.
Leatrice Ragsdale, who also attended the press conference, said the group of relatives received no explanation for Bell's continued denial of admittance. "There was no excuse," he said.
Benson accused the Cordish Co., the Power & Light District developer, which operates Mosaic through a subsidiary, of using its dress code to maintain "a certain level of minority participation above which they don't want to go."
Benson encouraged door workers and other former Power & Light personnel to come forward and confirm the allegation. He is also seeking to represent other individuals who can describe instances when they felt they received biased treatment at Power & Light. Benson offered an e-mail address: urbandresscodes@gmail.com. There's also a Facebook page.
Zed Smith, Cordish's director of operations, stood to the side as as the prospective plaintiffs (Benson needs a right-to-sue letter before he can file a case) addressed the media. Smith would not comment on the allegations about the August night at Mosiac. He stated that Power & Light does not discriminate in "any form or fashion."
Smith said that every tenant in the Power & Light District must comply with the dress code the city created earlier this year. Staff, he continued, receives regular training, and he noted that Cordish had engaged Harmony, a Kansas City human-relations company that develops "cultural competence."
Smith stressed that the district receives 6 million visits in a year. Asked why Cordish insists on using a dress code, given its tendency to incite controversy, Smith cited a Kansas City police report which states that dress codes help improve public safety.
Benson did not call on Cordish to eliminate attire from consideration. "We don't care about dress codes," he said. "We care about race discrimination."
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Todd....You should open your eyes every once and a while. If you notice the dress code at mosaic, it doesn't include anything a white male or female typically would wear. It was put into effect to limit the amount of minorities who can enter. The fact that a lawsuit is even possible should tell you that the charge is justified. And to your claim that whites don't owe blacks anything, actually they do, and vice versa. We all have to respect each race's differences, whether it be the way words are spoken, attitudes, or even the way one dresses. BET exists because there's nothing else on TV that represents black culture. The same goes for Hispanics. There are plenty of Hispanics that speak both english & spanish, but that doesn't mean that they should have to watch Lifetime. Sometimes you just want to see your race represented, and Univision does just that for them. Just imagine if every channel was like BET. Wouldn't you want to see someone that acts/thinks/speaks like you every once in a while Todd? Sure you would. You wanna know what represents Caucasian culture Todd? How bout basically 95% of movies and television that is on. So don't dare think you don't have it your way Todd.
It's funny how every time I start thinking racism just might be dying out - like when Obama got elected last year, an event I never dreamed I'd live to see - some idiot shows up in a comment thread and proves me wrong.
Mr. Thomas, you have to be an idiot. White Entertainment Television? Think MTV or every channel on cable/sat. Miss White America, Can you say Miss USA/Or enter your State Name here. United White Boy College Fund, think Grants and loans. White History Month, think every day of the year. It's not racist or discriminatory because someone didn't get their way. Those claims are because of the exclusion of certain people because of their race or nationality. Think how you would feel if you weren't allowed into a place because of what you wear. Then, how would you feel if you saw other people of other races wearing what you had on, but they were allowed in. You would be hollering reverse racism, so please, do us all a favor and shut your pie-hole.
Get over it and quit acting like the world owes you something. Racism? Imagine White Entertainment Television, Miss White America, United White Boy College Fund, White History Month, National Association for Advancement of White People. As a white male, I would love a card to play that screams racism everytime I don't get my way. We don't owe you a damn thing.
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