Father Chris Evans is accusing Summit Waves Aquatic Facility in Lee’s Summit, Missouri of racial discrimination for canceling his teen son’s birthday party because they felt “uncomfortable.”
Chris said he signed a $2000 contract with Summit Waves Aquatic Center permitting 250 guests for his 17-year-old son’s birthday party on Saturday (August 6).
When Chris, his family, and party guests arrived at the park to celebrate his son’s birthday, they were met with some stank energy from park staffer Grace Carson who told them the party had been canceled because of the outreach she got on social media the park is not comfortable with hosting the event.
They questioned her about what she meant by comfortable because it was a private event, and they signed a contract to allow 250 people in.
Grace said she understood that, but the park is a public entity, and they reserve the right to cancel any party they want to.
They asked Grace to show them where in the contract it said that they reserve the right to cancel any party.
She reemphasized that they are a public entity.
They tried to plead with Grace letting her know that they hired their own security and the kids were excited to celebrate a party, but Grace continued to lean on her “outreach.”
They started asking Grace what makes her uncomfortable, and, as she struggled to answer the question, someone in the crowd said, “It’s giving racist.”
Other people began to call Grace racist as well.
When Chris asked Grace to run his refund, she said it will take seven days, and Chris’s wife replied, “I want my money today!”
Watch the video of Chris’s family and the party guest talking to park staffer Grace Carson below:
Since the incident, the Lee Summits Parks and Recreation completed an internal investigation and apologized to the Evans family for the miscommunication and missed processes that led to the cancellation.
The City of Lee’s Summit also released the following statement:
According to park officials, the Evans family violated the contract by promoting the party on social media.
Park officials also claim that 500 kids showed up in the parking lot for the party, and the park has a size capacity limit of 600 kids.
They say they grew concerned about the event after other parents called asking about party details and safety concerns due to the size of the event.
“Safety pertaining to the anticipated crowd size and the potential impact it might have on party guests and the staff was the sole reason for the cancellation,” officials said in a statement.
The Evans family lawyered up and held a press conference Tuesday (August 9) debunking most of the claims from the park officials.
Chis Evans stated during the press conference:
…never anything close to 500 kids in the parking lot.
My kids were heartbroken that the party was canceled.
They are good kids who make good grades, have bright futures and do not deserve to be treated like this.
And that goes for all the kids at the park that day.
It appears to have been canceled simply because the park staff was uncomfortable with a group of Black teenagers having a pool party to enjoy the end of the summer.
Protesters also showed up with signs calling out Grace Carson for feeling uncomfortable around Black people and stating that Summit Waves Aquatic Facility has racist practices.
Watch the news reports below:
Your thoughts?
Source: Daily Mail
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