Trouble at the Red Hen

Civility is harder than it sounds

By Rick Holmes

July 7, 2018

Lexington, Virginia, is a beautiful city, steeped in history. It’s the home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington Lee University. Two heroes of the Lost Cause, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, are buried a few blocks from Lexington’s handsome downtown business district.

I visited both campuses, and both graves, the last time I was in Lexington. Later, we had dinner in a hip, farm-to-table restaurant that has recently made headlines, if not history: The Red Hen.

As I recall, the Red Hen had a cozy interior, friendly staff, good food and no politics on the menu. That’s how the restaurant’s owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, wants it.

“I’m not a huge fan of confrontation,” Wilkinson told the Washington Post. “I have a business, and I want the business to thrive.”

Lexington is diverse in many ways. The two colleges attract students from all over the country. A perennial on lists of attractive, affordable cities, Lexington draws retirees and tourists in great numbers. It has people of all races, from the well-off to the-just-getting by. It’s a blue city in the middle of a red county, and Wilkinson wants to welcome all kinds to her tiny upscale bistro.

But her staff is diverse, too, and includes people especially offended by the policies Sarah Huckabee Sanders defends as White House press secretary. So when Sanders showed up at the restaurant, they told their boss they didn’t want to serve her.

Things started with a civil tone. Wilkerson asked Sanders to come outside, where they could speak in privacy. She explained the situation and politely asked Sanders to leave. There was no shouting. Sanders and her large party left quietly. Their drinks and cheese plates were on the house.

Things got a lot less civil from there. A Red Hen staff member reported the incident on his Facebook page. Sanders let the world know in a tweet. Later, President Trump jumped in with a less civil tweet, implying the restaurant must be “dirty on the inside,” based on what TV showed of the outside. Trump’s constant critics responded by posting news articles about health code violations at Trump’s various properties.

The circus came to Lexington. Protesters of all stripes – Trump supporters, Wilkinson supporters, street preachers and sight-seers taking selfies -- gathered at the Red Hen. Crowds grew so large a street had to be closed. One man was arrested for throwing chicken poop at the Red Hen.

The Red Hen’s Yelp page was hit with thousands of one-star reviews by people who’d never set foot in Lexington. Supporters of Wilkinson’s action fought back with equally fraudulent five-star reviews.

The blowback hurt people who had nothing to do with Sanders’ dinner. Other restaurants named “Red Hen” -- that are in no way connected to the Lexington restaurant -- were showered with threats and bad reviews. When the owner of another Lexington restaurant voiced support for her friend Wilkerson, nasty Yelp reviews about her business began appearing within minutes.

Two weeks after Sara Sanders’ visit, the Red Hen remains closed, its phone reservations number blocked.

Things are getting out of hand.

The Red Hen staff and owner have the right to their non-violent protest of Sanders’ actions. Sanders has the right to complain. We all have the right to choose where to go for dinner, based on the politics of the owner or legitimate reviews on Yelp.

But people don’t have to run anyone out of business because they don’t like their politics. And we don’t have to turn every small-town incident into a nationwide brawl.

Along with other incidents – comedians using bad words, Alan Dershowitz shunned by Martha’s Vineyard liberals – the Red Hen fracas has sparked calls for a return to civility in our national discourse.

That’s easier said than done. There’s an outrage industry of radio yakkers, cable TV screamers and media provocateurs for whom lies and insults are the keys to fame and fortune. Online trolls – human and robot, foreign and domestic – ramp up the nastiness in social media feeds.

Besides, there are things more important than civility, like mass shootings and children torn from the arms of mothers seeking asylum. Sometimes you have to raise your voice to be heard, especially if you’re a restaurant server, not a White House spokesperson. Where do you draw the line?

Fifty years ago, in a national moment as fraught with conflict as our own, Robert F. Kennedy was asked about political extremism. “What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant,” he said. “The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”

In other words, disagree vigorously but don’t make it personal. That’s not easy, especially in an election year. But it may be the best way to survive what promises to be a long, hot summer.

Rick Holmes can be reached at rick@rickholmes.net. You can follow his journey at www.rickholmes.net. Like him on Facebook at Holmes & Co, on follow him on Twitter @HolmesAndCo.