Weekend Gathering Ruined

A local family was looking forward to spending a weekend at a get-a-way in Union Parish on a recent weekend. It was to have been a birthday celebration for a loved one, as various family members, including sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, and small children, were all there to mark the special day and what was considered a festive occasion. It would turn out to be a weekend that the family would rather not remember but would never be forgotten. A family member contacted the Monroe Dispatch to let others know that some people around may not care to see Black being where they feel that they shouldn’t. She said that everything was going well. There was fishing, paddle boating, and a little drinking. Nothing loud. Everyone was there to have a good time celebrating a loved one’s birthday. It was towards the end of the day when the family received a phone call. One that they weren’t expecting. The owner of the property agreed with the family that they could hold their birthday celebration there by the water as the family celebration was relatively low-key, with no loud music to disturb anyone, and it was a small crowd. The owner allegedly told them that the family had too many cars (six in total) on the property, there were too many children(two, 2-year-olds), and that they “had to leave." Just before they received the call, someone said that “a very nosey lady" walked by, and suddenly they received a call to evacuate the premises. She said that she was concerned for her family's safety because they were allegedly threatened of having the authorities called. The owner, the family said, had lied about having cameras, noting that if there were one, the owner would have known how many people were there and what was going on. Caesar said they were having fun until the “anti-social” outcast walked by. She said her cousins had to drive from Farmerville to Olla, LA, amid severe weather approaching. She said it was lightning when she and her husband left, as they were trying to finish loading everything in the dark in severe weather. The celebration was cut short, as they had to leave before they were scheduled to leave, putting them at risk because it wasn’t a safe time to drive. This incident marks another occasion where a Black family thought that they had secured, through an agreement, that they would have the use of a facility for a designated time. Owners should be made to honor agreements between them and Black patrons, but as we can see, all it takes is one phone call to turn a Black family’s time of celebration and fellowship into an event where it seemed as if they weren’t welcomed in the first place.