Chandra Stewart posted a video to Facebook Tuesday of the altercation that happened at Bonefish Grill in Raleigh.
"So this happened today," Stewart wrote in the post. “What was supposed to be dinner with my girlfriends ended up in us being called stupid (slur). The climate of the country today has some people thinking whatever they feel ... they can say. The reality is if we were to retaliate with this same kind of hate and ignorance we would be called 'angry black women.'"
Stewart told WRAL-TV that she and two friends were eating at the restaurant when a white woman, identified by the news station as Nancy Goodman, approached them and told them they were being too loud. An argument followed, Stewart said, so she began recording the encounter on her cellphone.
In the video, Goodman can be seen talking to a Bonefish Grill employee.
"We're paying for our food just like everyone else, and she told us that we are the rudest people," Stewart can be heard saying.
Goodman can then be seen approaching the women and taking out her cellphone.
“I have some really good friends that are black, and I love them," Goodman says.
“We never said anything about color," Stewart replies.
The women continue to have a tense back-and-forth exchange with Goodman. One of Stewart's friends can be heard saying, "Let me show you my money. It’s just as green as yours.”
That's when Goodman responds, "Oh, you’re so stupid, (slur)."
Goodman spoke with WRAL-TV about the incident and said she wishes she would have gone to restaurant staff with her concerns about the women's volume instead of approaching them directly. However, she said she didn't regret her use of the racial slur.
"I used that word because they forced me into it," she said. "I would say it again to them."
In a later Facebook post, Goodman seemed to change her tune. According to WRAL-TV, the post read:
"Tonight on WRAL-TV news there will be a news article about me using the N word in a conflict with three rude, loud obnoxious black women. I would like to apologize to my family, friends and other patrons in the bar at North Hills Bonefish. The TV reporters came to my house today as they found out my name which that could only happen if the restaurant gave them my information. The women taped me and apparently shared the video all over social media. I suffer from extreme anxiety which is not an excuse. I am ashamed of my actions."
Stewart and Lakesha Shaw, who was also present for the altercation, told the news station they're still shocked by what happened. They don't plan on returning to the restaurant any time soon.
"[I'm] still trying to wrap my head around it all," Stewart said. "It’s disheartening, it is. But this is the society that we’re living in right now."
Bonefish Grill officials said they had reached out to Stewart, and released the following statement:
“We are a place for all people to gather for good food in a comfortable atmosphere, including positive interactions among guests. We do not tolerate hate speech or disrespect in our restaurants. We are reviewing the incident to see how we can do better at deescalating something like this in the future. ... We are still looking into what happened and don’t have all the facts. Nonetheless, the use of a racial slur by anyone in our restaurant is unacceptable. ... We do not tolerate this type of behavior. Guests who behave in this manner are asked to leave.”
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