Mark Curry Details Racist Experience At Colorado Hotel
Mark Curry has shared his experience after being racially profiled by hotel staff members earlier this month.
According to the Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 9th, the comedian was followed by hotel employees at the Mining Exchange Hotel in downtown Colorado Springs, Colo. Curry, who initially thought he was being pranked, live-streamed the incident on Instagram.
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“Man, a Black man can’t go nowhere. A Black man can’t go nowhere in America,” Curry said in the video according to the outlet. “I want everybody to call this hotel… He was so upset. I did not know what his problem was. He did not want me in that lobby. They walked up to me in the lobby and said, ‘This lobby is private’…what? And they stopped me… I want you guys to give this motherfu**ing place a call and let them know what you think of them stopping Mark Curry.”
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Hours after he’d already checked in, Curry returned to the lobby where he was allegedly approached by hotel staff and asked if he was a guest. He claims the employees followed him around and escalated the situation with harassing and discriminatory comments. Despite only being there for hours, Curry checked out of the hotel for safety reasons.
“Non-African American guests who were also in the lobby were not approached and questioned in a similar manner,” said civil rights attorney Daryl Washington in a statement. “Mr. Curry initially thought it was a prank but would soon realize that it was not. The two employees continued to engage in intimidating and threatening behavior toward Mr. Curry by staring and making additional remarks.”
The Mining Exchange Hotel claimed on Tuesday (Dec. 13) that the employees involved had been suspended pending further investigation, and that they issued the actor an apology. The Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper star, however, said this did not happen.
According to the report, Curry was not informed of the development until he saw the news online and said nobody had contacted him to apologize.
“If the hotel indeed comped Mark’s two-hour stay, that benefits the promoter of the comedy show and not Mr. Curry,” Washington said. “At a time when more African Americans will be frequenting Colorado, excited about the recent hiring of Deion Sanders, Mark felt it was important to bring attention to an issue that continues to exist in 2022.”
As of Thursday (Dec. 15), Curry and Washington both informed the Times they had yet to hear from the hotel. A representative for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts said that it has been in contact with the hotel’s owner and management team.
