An African American guest at a local hotel says he was greeted by a racial slur across his room TV.
According to Derrick Forward, president of the Dayton chapter of the NAACP, a member of his group discovered the message Friday when turning on his room TV at the Motel 6 in Sharonville.
The slur was part of the internal TV graphics broadcast on the screen said Forward.
Laura Rojo-Eddy, a spokeswoman for the Texas-based, corporate headquarters for Accor, Motel 6’s parent company, released a statement saying it is “appalled.”
“At Motel 6, we are proud of the great diversity of the guests that we serve, and we are completely appalled by the offensive slur that appeared on our guest’s television screen on Friday. We are investigating to determine how this mishap occurred, and after inspecting other rooms, this appears to be an isolated incident,” said Rojo-Eddy.
Rojo-Eddy was unavailable early this morning to discuss the status of the corporation’s investigation.
Sharonville Police Lt. James Nesbit said police have also begun an investigation but so far have nothing to report.
“We are taking this very seriously and we are looking into it,” said Nesbit.
Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati chapter of the NAACP, was also unavailable this morning but said in an earlier released statement that "this behavior is despicable and un-American."
“The Motel 6 owner owes the entire Cincinnati region an apology and termination of all employees involved in this act,” said Smitherman.
“It is my hope the public officials and leaders will hold the Motel 6 operator accountable. We thank … Derrick Forward … for investigating this issue by taking pictures and personally driving from Dayton to support his member. The Cincinnati NAACP will be supportive to the Dayton branch to bring an amicable resolution," he said.
I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for the follow. It’s greatly appreciated.