THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508030188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Beth Barber
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Unless shooting, fighting, failing to meet code and ABC law requirements and other violations are racial offenses - and they aren't - then the city's move to declare the nightclub Mr. Magic's a public nuisance and the state's move to yank its liquor license aren't racist. The only thing black and white about the rules and laws that govern such establishments is the color of the type in which the regulations are printed and the color of the paper on which they're printed.
The regs aren't the problem: They exist because general hooliganism, much less gun-fire, at a gathering spot isn't tolerable. Mr. Magic's contends that law enforcement has been selective to the point of harassment, but the club has drawn more than its share of trouble and troublemakers. That draws police action and ABC board sanction - and should. The authorities are responding to the violence and the violations, not causing them.
Bars, clubs and other gatherings can always have their problems. Not responding to code violations by an establishment that caters to young African Americans or to violence at such an establishment would be racist.
The question is not why Mr. Magic's is in trouble with the law. The question is whether and how Mr. Magic's and its patrons will fully comply with the law. Answering that is more constructive than accusing city authorities of ``singling out'' this place because its owners and most customers are black.
Better that club management single out, and deter, the violent few. Holding them responsible for their actions and the consequences for the clubs they frequent makes better business sense than playing the race card.
What does cause that violence by the few? How to prevent them from ruining others' good times and restaurants? These are suitable subjects for the NAACP, whose president in Virginia Beach, George Minns, is administrator for the company that owns Mr. Magic's.
The first step is differentiating not between black and white but between people who behave and people who don't. The vast majority of young African Americans act appropriately in a nightclub or anywhere else. They also know inappropriate behavior when they see it and they go out of their way to avoid it. So should Mr. Magic's. by CNB