Alleged Incident of Racism at Pasadena Westin Hotel Garners International Attention

In the incident involving where an African America woman and her daughter experienced “blatant racism” in Pasadena has gone viral and garnered the attention of international media.

The incident, posted on Facebook, depicts a white man posing as a health inspector who asked the mother and daughter if they had showered before using a pool at The Westin Hotel Pasadena last Monday.

Carle Wheeler posted a video of the incident on Facebook on Wednesday, claiming she and her daughter were at the pool when they were approached by a white man. The man claimed to be a health inspector who asked them if they had showered before entering the swimming pool.

“The man asked if me and my little girl had showered before getting into the pool because people carry diseases into the pools and he doesn’t want the health department to shut the pool down,” Wheeler wrote on Facebook.

Calls to the hotel manager Friday for comment were not immediately returned.

However, other media reports indicate that the Hotel has apologized and is reviewing the security tapes to identify the Suspect in this incident.

On Monday, there a protest is slated to take place at 7PM outside the hotel. Organizers including POP sent out a media alert Friday.

UPDATE FROM PROTEST ORGANIZERS:

Protest at the Westin Pasadena

“Manager failed to ID, evict a racist patron

Community demands General Manager Carl Sprayberry’s resignation for failure to act and demands that company strengthen its anti-racist guest policies

On Monday, June 18^th, local activist group Pasadenans and Altadenans Against Police Violence (Pasa-Alta) will protest outside the Westin Pasadena to demand that General Manager Carl Sprayberry resign for his appalling handling of the racist incident on Monday, June 11^th, in which a Caucasian man was caught on video harassing African-American patron Carle Wheeler and her daughter at the hotel. The Caucasian harasser posed as a health inspector and asked Wheeler and her daughter if they had showered before getting in the hotel pool; according to Wheeler, he did not ask this of any of the white patrons using the facilities. When General Manager Carl Sprayberry arrived on the scene, he threatened to call the police if both parties didn’t end the disturbance and allowed the harasser to leave without identifying him or requiring him to vacate the premises. The Pasadena Health Department has stated they do not recognize the man from the video and that no health inspectors were at the Westin that day. Mr. Sprayberry’s actions are unacceptable; he must resign or be removed from his position. This is not the first time an incident of this nature has occurred at the Pasadena Westin.

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