Did a Regal theater conduct racial profiling for ‘The Butler’?
The cinema chain attributed the heavy police presence at a Saturday night screening to the large volume of moviegoers, not the predominance of African-American patrons that evening.
A lot of people are talking about Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” which took the No. 1 spot at the box office opening weekend.
Two moviegoers who went to see the film left the theater feeling insulted, not because of the film, but because they were forced to watch it under the surveillance of armed security guards.
Tiffany Flowers and her boyfriend Alan Hanson attended a Saturday 8 p.m. showing at the Regal Majestic Stadium 20 theater in Silver Spring, Md., where they immediately noticed the unusually heavy police presence.
“The Butler” is based on the true story of Eugene Allen, an African-American White House butler whose 34-year tenure spanned eight presidential administrations. Because the film drew a predominantly black audience, Flowers and Hanson are saying the theater took unnecessary steps to beef up security.
Flowers told The Grio that moviegoers—most of whom were African-American—were met with double ticket validation, a police officer directing them to their seats, and armed guards facing them throughout the entire film.
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