CHARGE OF RACIAL BIAS REPEATED

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30588, 3 November 1964, Page 1

CHARGE OF RACIAL BIAS REPEATED

The Negro male lead of “Black Nativity,” Mr Alex Bradford, yesterday confirmed his statement in “The Press” on Saturday that guests at the De Brett Hotel, Auckland, refused to enter the dining-room while he and his daughter entertained two Maori friends to dinner.

Mr Bradford said he was astounded that the accuracy of his statement had been denied by the hotel’s manager (Mr J. M. Costley) in a Press Association message from Auckland printed yesterday.

“Where was Mr Costley during the time we were there?” Mr Bradford asked. “He most certainly was not in the dining-room.” Mr Bradford said that his party arrived at the hotel about 5.40 p.m. His Maori friends, who were extremely well dressed, were apprehensive about going in, and said they would not be accepted. "We were told the dining-

room would not be open until 6.15 p.m., so decided to go to the bar for a beer,” Mr Bradford said. “But although it was only 5.50 p.m., as soon as we entered the bar the lights were turned off and we were told the bar was closed.” Mr Bradford said that he and his friends entered the dining-room immediately it was opened, and stayed there for about an hour and a-half “It was quite apparent that no-one wanted to enter the room while we were there,” he said.

Asked why he thought this, Mr Bradford said that other guests made themselves apparent by frequently peering through the glass doors of the dining-room. “Then, as we left, a large number of guests who just

about filled the lounge all got up and immediately began going into the dining-room. There was a tremendous crush, and they all had hungry looks on their faces,” he said.

Mr Bradford said he wondered what sort of reception he himself would have received in New Zealand had he not been associated with the Kerridge organisation. He felt the Incident at the De Brett Hotel was created through the presence of his two Maori friends. “At other times when we dined without the Maoris there were no similar occurrences,” he said. “Other guests did not hesitate then to eat in the same room.” Mr Bradford accused Mr Costley of distorting the facts in the newspaper report. “I never said—nor was I reported as saying—that I was discriminated against in his hotel dining-room.” He emphasised that he was not blaming the hotel management for what happened. The food served there and the service he received were among the best in the country, he said. In a telephoned statement to “The Press” yesterday, Mr Costley said that Mr Bradford’s remarks were completely and utterly untrue and a distortion of fact. “These people were in often for dinner and they were in early because they had the show. The dining-room is not very busy at that time of night” he said. He had received no complaint from Mr Bradford. “I would never countenance racial discrimination in any form,” said Mr Costley. “We had a big Maori wedding here on September 25, and we could not have had a nicer crowd. We have a lot of foreigners in the hotel, and noone takes any notice of them.” Mr Bradford also challenged a statement in a letter to the editor of “The Press” (printed yesterday) by Varian J. Wilson on the incident. The last sentence of this letter said: “Most New Zealanders despise those who escalate personal feelings to outright confrontation in racial issues, and need no prompting from a visitor who is not prepared to fight the real colour bar in another country.” “It may interest your correspondent to learn that I am a contributing member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and am a supporter of Martin Luther King and his Southern Christian Leadership Movement,” said Mr Bradford.