Craig Brooks told a potential racist hotel guest too little, too late with her apologies.
This week, Mr. Brooks became an overnight celebrity thanks to his calmness and politeness as he spoke to a woman who called him the N-word. He is also in hot water for some controversial tweets about transgender people.
The 26-year-old man, who works as a guest service employee at a Holiday Inn Express in Austin, Texas, recently received a phone call from a woman whose identity has not been revealed.
The pair had a brief and cordial interaction which concluded with Brooks taking the woman’s credit card information to book a room.
She explained that she would arrive at the hotel within 10 minutes, and Brooks responded, but she forgot to hang up the phone right away.
Speaking to the media, Brooks claimed that the woman said “yeah, that fckin ngger” while still on the line and he decided not to react.
Instead, he called the hotel’s management and informed them of the incident. The heads of Holiday Inn Express told him, they have a zero-tolerance policy of racism towards employees and therefore he is authorized to deny the woman service.
Unaware that Brooks heard the racist remark, the woman showed up to the hotel and requested her room. Brooks posted a video where he is calmly telling the woman she is not welcome at the hotel.
I called a FUCKIN NIGGER at work… this how it played out ? #KillEmWithKindness pic.twitter.com/2Mftkj2eOg
— NoFridayy? (@craignofridayy) June 3, 2019
The woman told the hotel employee: “I need to stay here. My mother died.” Brooks responded by: “I understand that, but you called me a f***ing [n-word].”
The woman told Brooks that she was very sorry for her hurtful words and he told her: “You weren’t sorry when you said it to me on the phone… It’s above me now.”
Several of the woman’s family members stayed at the hotel. As for the angry woman, she was advised to get a room at another inn.
She was told: “There’s a Best Western next door.” The video has over 9 million views and “Best Western” and “It’s above me” were trending topics on the networking channels.
#ItsAboveMeNow pic.twitter.com/S5E8iSZ5Vh
— NoFridayy? (@craignofridayy) June 3, 2019
One person told Brooks: “KILLS me how privileged/entitled wp act. So you mean to tell me you can call me a fuckin n*gger out of anger (the lowest most racially degrading thing you could’ve said) & expect me to let it slide cuz you issue some half ass apology? “Sir, my grandmother just died.” Bitchhh idgaf”
Another commenter shared: “As someone that works in hotel and hospitality….. you are literally an angel, and you’re gonna go FAR with the grace you showed those miscreants. I’m so sorry that’s the road they went down, but you did exactly what you needed to do to rise above. Everyone else can #takenotes.”
Brooks has also been forced to issue multiple apologies to the Trans community: “Y’all act like I woke up and wanted to have this shit pop off. I apologized for the way I acted in the past and yesterday about the Trans community. I’ve talked to figures of the Trans community, and they’ve shown light and are helping me understand. Y’all just being extra now.”
Brooks seems eager to address his critics on social media.
