Mark Curry, the actor and comedian who starred in the ’90s ABC sitcom “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” shared a video over the weekend of what he says was racial profiling from the staff at a hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he was staying.
In the 26-minute video, Curry is sitting in a lobby chair at the Mining Exchange, and having a tense conversation with a white, bearded man who wants proof that he is a guest at the Wyndham hotel. Curry counters by asking to see proof that the man, who is not wearing a name tag, is an employee.
“Let me see some I.D.,” says Curry. A second employee, who is Black, hovers in the background. Curry refers to him as “back-up.”
“You cannot be in this hotel lobby if you’re Black and you’re in Colorado Springs. You can’t be in the lobby. Wow, this is crazy,” he continues. He was in town for a show at the 3E’s Comedy Club on Friday night.
“Black man and a Hotel Lobby. It’s impossible that he has a room here. No, I have a suite!,” he wrote in the caption of the video. “He walks up to me with no badge on. I don’t know who this man is. And asked to see my hotel key. Wyndham racism.” He urged his followers to call the hotel and register a complaint on his behalf.
Holly Robinson Peete, who costarred on “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” tweeted her outrage over how Curry was treated, and Wyndham Hotels responded with the message, “While this is a franchised location, the team there is working to make this right. Mr. Curry is being refunded and has an open invitation to return at no cost any time in the future. Hotel is also revisiting staff training to ensure all feel welcome.”
“A Black man can’t go nowhere in America,” Curry said later in the video. He also stated he intended to check out and that the unpleasant experience was going to be part of his next show.
The hotel is also “using this opportunity to revisit training with our staff, helping to ensure all interactions are reflective of our company values,” the statement said.
