This Michigan Tire Shop Owner Says He Doesn't Service Black or 'Ghetto' People

A tire shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is facing criticism after a mechanic purporting to be the business’s owner said he doesn’t want the business of blacks and “ghetto people.” When Ypsilanti resident Madison Callanan left a negative Yelp review of her experience at Whitney’s Tire and Auto Repair, she received a shocking response by a Yelp user going by the name “Jim S.,” who claimed to be the owner and manager of the repair shop.

“Most reviews will be left by blacks from Ypsilanti because I don’t want them to call here,” Jim S. wrote in his response to Callanan. “Nothing against them, but given an examination, I found a way to make a boatload more money avoiding them doing commercial water heaters.”

The tire shop worker proceeded to write that his business prefers to work with clients related to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, campus. “Ghetto folks need to stay in the ghetto and not come to Ann Arbor,” he concluded.

Shalynn Renee Vaughn, a 24-year-old student at the University of Michigan, who called the auto shop to ask the price of a tire, recorded a conversation in which a person from the auto repair shop says he doesn’t service “monkeys.”

“There’s no law against refusing service to ghetto people. I don’t serve fucking monkeys, little fucking primates,” that person told Vaughn in the recording provided to Mic.

What Jim S. is admitting to is most likely illegal, thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This legislation prohibits the discrimination on the basis of religion, race or origin by privately owned businesses, that are considered places of public accommodation. Restaurants, hotels, theaters and repair shops generally fall under the realm of public accommodation.

Jim S. contended, in a phone interview with Mic, that his use of the word “ghetto” has nothing to do with race. “We really don’t want to serve ghetto people, that’s a fact,” he said.