Komla Agbeli Gbedemah - Howard Johnson's Restaurant Incident

Howard Johnson's Restaurant Incident

In the United States, he is most widely known from an October 10, 1957, incident when U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologized to him after he was refused service in a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Dover, Delaware. He reportedly told the staff "The people here are of a lower social status than I am but they can drink here and we can't. You can keep the orange juice and the change, but this is not the last you have heard of this." Some sources suspect that the incident, which resulted in some publicity, may have been engineered by Gbedemah's secretary. Nonetheless, it resulted in Gbedemah being invited to breakfast at the White House.

Read more about this topic:  Komla Agbeli Gbedemah

Famous quotes containing the words howard, johnson, restaurant and/or incident:

    Cathleen: That’s Rhett Butler. He’s from Charleston. He has the most terrible reputation.
    Scarlett O’Hara: He looks as if, as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy.
    —Sidney Howard (1891–1939)

    Sir John, Sir, is a very unclubbable man.
    —Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

    A restaurant is a fantasy—a kind of living fantasy in which diners are the most important members of the cast.
    Warner Leroy, U.S. restaurateur, founder of Maxwell’s Plum restaurant, New York City. New York Times (July 9, 1976)

    What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?
    Henry James (1843–1916)