The First Watch Cafe in Richardson Texas evicted Andy Ternay and his Partner because Ternay wore a T-Shirt reading “FUCK TRUMP AND FUCK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM” on the front and FUCK THE RACIST ALT-RIGHT. They were approached by the manager and asked to leave because customers were concerned that their children may see it. Ternay told the manager that he did not see a problem with the wording on his T-shirt. After they were served drinks and placed their order, a cook came to their table and asked them to leave. As they were leaving Ternay heard a table full of white customers clap. He later was met by an officer at the parking lot who had come there because of a complaint regarding the T-shirt. He quoted the judgment in Cohen vs California 1971 where the Supreme Court upheld the right to wear a T-Shirt with the wording, ‘FUCK THE DRAFT’. He was also met by a black waiter who told him he had quit working at the restaurant after seeing the incident and also told him that many customers at the restaurant make requests not to be seated near Muslims.
Ternay has found support from people of color and appreciation for his T-shirt. Latinos and African Americans have appreciated the wording on the T-Shirt and called it awesome. They appreciate his efforts to show everybody his stand on alienation. His aim by wearing the T-shirt is to make sure that people of color, LGBTQ people and immigrants are not alienated. Ternay narrated the incident on Facebook. Germany’s post went viral in no time. It has been shared 42,000 time and many African American viewers had lost faith in their white neighbors and the wording on his T-shirt has shown them that they have support in people like Ternay. He believed that as a white male, he should use his privilege to help uplift the less-privileged and to speak the truth to those in power. He doesn’t condemn the restaurant and has no plans of boycotting it despite the treatment he received at their hands. He merely wanted to assure those groups of people who feel alienated that they are not alone.
The corporate offices of the restaurant responded stating that they had evicted Ternay after receiving complaints from customers. They stated that customers found the wording offensive because they were dining in the company of their young children. They did not wish that their children see the vulgar obscenities written in bold letters on the T-shirt. They also stated that they did not wish that the children of their customers should be exposed to the language in the T-shirt in the same manner as young children are not allowed to view R-Rated movies or when newspapers reserve their right to filter or edit obscene language used in articles. They state that they reserve the right to refuse service to customers and to relieve the uneasiness of customers with young children, they refused service to Ternay. The response of the corporate offices of the restaurant emphasized that though claims were made by those who had not viewed the incident, the eviction of Ternay was not because of the political statement on the T-shirt or because they discriminated against customers because of the color of their skin.