Hotel rooms denied to Native Americans after owner threatens a ban, lawsuit states

The owner of a South Dakota hotel that has threatened to ban Native Americans is now facing a federal lawsuit, and many of her staff members have reportedly quit over her racially-charged comments.

According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday, March 23, in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota, Connie Uhre has followed through on her threats at the Grand Gateway Hotel she owns. Two Native Americans were denied rooms in the Rapid City hotel on March 21, according to the lawsuit, which calls the hotel’s actions discriminatory.

Calls from McClatchy News to the hotel were unanswered Thursday, March 24. An attorney for the hotel was not listed.

“Due to the killing that took place at the Grand Gateway Hotel ... we will no longer allow any Native American on property or in Cheers Sports Bar. Natives killing natives,” Uhre said in a social media post, which the Rapid City mayor shared March 21 on Twitter, McClatchy News reported.

She also said she cannot tell “who is a bad Native or a good Native,” the Rapid City Journal reported.

Uhre was referencing a shooting that took place at the hotel around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 19. While the victim did not die as Uhre originally said, the victim is “not doing well,” the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office said, NewsCenter1 reported. The suspect, 19-year-old Quincy Bear Robe, is in jail on a $1 million bond.

Nick Uhre, who is the son of the owner and the manager of the hotel, said a ban of Native Americans would not be in place, according to a South Dakota Public Broadcasting reporter.

But the son said in an email, according to the lawsuit, that he does “not want to allow Natives on property.”

“The problem is we do not know the nice ones from the bad natives... so we just have to say no to them!!” Nick Uhre said in his March 20 email, the lawsuit states.

Reaction to the comments

The mayor of Rapid City, as well as police, sheriff and city officials, have condemned the remarks by Connie Uhre. In a joint letter on March 22, they called the statements “wrong, harmful and hurtful” and compared them to comments made during the Civil Rights era.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe also shared its condemnation of Uhre’s remarks.

“Today, many of our tribal members and other Native Americans live, work, study and travel in Rapid City,” the tribe’s statement read. “The statements of Ms. Uhre are racist and discriminatory. They have no place in a modern, enlightened society that values and respects the dignity and human rights of all people.”

The statements by the owner also led to a mass exodus of workers at the hotel and Cheers Sports Lounge, which is located on the same property. The entire staff at the bar quit, including Red Elk Zephier, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported.

“I can’t have that be a part of my life, that negativity. So I just don’t want to be associated with that,” Zephier told the publication. “I didn’t even think about the money or anything involved, I just, I can’t have that in my life.”

South Dakota State Rep. Peri Pourier said she “applaud(s) the staff at Cheers for taking a stand against blatant discrimination and racism.”

A rally planned by the Indigenous-led organization NDN Collective was held March 23 as the group filed its lawsuit against Grand Gateway Hotel.

‘Intentional racial discrimination’

Sunny Red Bear, the racial equity campaign director for NDN Collective, was allegedly denied a room at the Grand Gateway Hotel when she tried to book one on March 21 with another Native American woman, the lawsuit states.

A hotel employee claimed they could not give them a room because they do not “rent rooms to people with ‘local’ identification.” The attorney who filed the lawsuit called this “intentional racial discrimination.”

The worker said there is not a formal policy but noted it was her effort to deal with Uhre’s posts calling for a Native American ban.

“As a result of the (Uhres’) public statements endorsing racial discrimination at their businesses, and as a result of the March 21, 2022, incident, Ms. Red Bear felt and feels threatened, embarrassed, humiliated, disturbed and shocked,” the lawsuit states. “She feels unwelcome to return.”

A day later, NDN Collective tried to reserve five rooms, but were told “they could not rent rooms due to some ‘issues’ that the hotel had,” according to the lawsuit.

They were later “forcefully demanded” to leave the hotel by an individual believed to be Nick Uhre,the attorney states.

What the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1964 entail

Under Title II of Civil Rights Act of 1964, “a place of public accommodation” cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion or national origin.

And by the Uhres allegedly discriminating against Native Americans, they violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that grants all citizens the same “benefits, privileges, terms and conditions,” according to the lawsuit

The Uhres, the hotel and the bar are being sued for undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages.

“We demand accountability at both the city and state level, and we will not back down until businesses perpetuating racist actions and practices are held accountable for their actions,” NDN Collective’s Korina Barry said in a statement.

Connie Uhre apologizes

In a letter to NewsCenter1, the hotel owner apologized to all Native Americans. She also offered her condolences to the gunshot victim.

But she doubled down on her reference to “good” and “bad” Natives, calling on city leadership to help fix issues within the city.

“I am not blaming the good Natives, it is our leadership and criminal justice that has made our city an unsafe place (for) anyone, any race,” she said, NewsCenter1 reported. “And we have plenty of whites that create problems. Our city leaders can change all that.”

Operators of the Cheers Bar social media page also apologized on Tuesday, March 22, and said they were “saddened by the horrendous evil shooting.”

“We’re sorry if some members of our community reacted without thinking and said things that don’t reflect the values of Cheers, the hotel, or our customers,” the statement read. “We’re committed to being a welcoming, inclusive place for everyone.”

“I believe that we can make Rapid City a better, safer place for everyone by working together,” they continued. “We are not just people from different ancestry, shades of skin, or distorted histories. But people who value the charity that we give altruistically to the friends and strangers we encounter in our everyday lives.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Hotel rooms denied to Native Americans after owner threatens a ban, lawsuit states."