“WE’RE not racist, we’re just a bunch of a**holes.”

That’s the takeaway quote from the lawyer for a Houston nightclub accused of racism after turning black patrons away at the door.

In a particularly frank video posted to YouTube, Gaslamp nightclub lawyer Tim Sutherland said the venue does not discriminate based on skin colour, but does discriminate based on class, gender and whether or not a customer is “a smoking hot babe”.

“We are not willing to be a business that is too timid to speak, that’s too eager to accommodate for fear of offending someone and too willing to throw out our private property rights and our freedom of association so that everyone has it their way,” Sutherland said.

“We are willing to hurt your feelings by telling you that you don’t fit the dress code. We will tell you that you need some girls and that this isn’t ‘bro’s night out’ because we don’t want you creeping out the girls that we already have inside.

media_camera The Houston nightclub making news around the world.

“We will tell you that you’re too cheap for our nightclub if you don’t want to pay a cover, because we know that if you won’t pay a cover, you’re probably not going to buy any drinks. This isn’t market square free bingo night, we’ve gotta make a profit.”

Gaslamp was accused of discriminating against Brandon Ball, a 32-year-old black man who tried to get in to the club on September 11.

On Facebook, Ball wrote he and two other African American friends were told to pay a cover charge when “white folks” were let in for free.

“When we walked up the guy at the door told us $20 each. We didn’t want to pay that amount so we decided to go to the next bar down, The Dogwood, which was free,” Ball wrote.

“After about 30 minutes we left The Dogwood and were walking back. As we passed the Gaslamp we noticed folks walking in without having to pay. Those folks who didn’t have to pay were white.”

Ball’s post was shared more than 11,000 times and local newspapers including the Houston Chronicle picked up the story.

As a response, Gaslamp employed a new policy. Management decided to post the dress code outside the front door so there was no confusion about why people were being refused entry.

A dress code that patrons can’t see, Sutherland said, “can blur the lines between whether someone is being mistreated because of their race or just because we’re a bunch of a**holes. We prefer it to be the latter.”

media_camera Brandon Ball complained after being turned away at the door in favour of white patrons. Picture: Facebook

Sutherland says there’s a difference between being morally questionable and acting illegally.

“For those of you that are outraged, I say there is something you can do, because it’s not illegal until you, the voter, make it illegal. Do your job, get educated and make it so there’s common ground between your beliefs and the world you live in.”

He said Ball was asked to pay a cover because he was in a group of guys with no girls and he wanted to go to the rooftop terrace “where we charge everyone a cover”.

He admitted there was a problem with discrimination against black people generally that Gaslamp would do its best to address.

“If the Gaslamp has made any mistakes it’s a failure to take the time to consider what the customer is coming to the door with. Some customers may bring with them a lifetime of race based issues they’ve experienced and we certainly understand if somebody receives poor treatment it can be perceived at its worst as racism.”

The video may have missed the mark. Of those who had responded on Thursday, 978 gave it a thumbs down and only 139 gave it a thumbs up.

Originally published as ‘We’re not racist, we’re just a**holes’