The Tennessean says, Barnes has denied calling  Jenkins a nigger. He says he didn’t tip because he doesn’t tip on a takeaway, which he claims it was. Furthermore, his feeling have been hurt and his good name sullied. Barnes’ lawyer, a Richard Dugger, says his man has been abused by “threats from all over the world”. His client has suffered “great harm and mental anguish”. The lawsuit adds:

“The plaintiff is not now, nor has he ever been, a ‘racist;’ but now as a result of the defendant’s acts and omissions to act, your plaintiff has been tagged a ‘racist’ world wide.”

Is a million dollars too much? Not enough?

“I was not trying to get back at him or bring any attention to him at all. I have nothing against him. I can only imagine what he is going through. I was trying to bring attention to racism.”

Good for you. But the incident is a relative rarity when compared to to the dark stain on US life and State-sanctioned bigotry that went before. Today, it’s the oddness of the comment that sticks out as ugly, not its mundanity.

She adds of Barnes and his party:

“They were extremely rude, but I introduced myself to them and they didn’t respond. When I came to take their order they simply told me they wanted their food and to put everything in a to-go box. I offered them dessert but they told me abruptly that they just wanted the check. When I went back to the table they had gone and left the receipt and had written the comments.”

So. You posted it online. And expected what? Lawyers?