His wife and co-owner, Sherry Giovannoni, said Friday that the June 26 incident was a “misunderstanding” and that she has never heard her husband use racial slurs. She said she is sorry that the community has been caused pain and said “racism and bigotry don’t have any place in the Fish Market.”
Sherry Giovannoni also said that the family, which opened the restaurant in Clinton in 1997, has no plans to sell the business. She said the bar and restaurant, which has been closed since June 28 because of the protests, “absolutely” plans to reopen, although there is no date set.
The protesters who gather daily, many bringing lawn chairs and signs that say, “The Fish Market is canceled,” said they wanted to see the business sold to someone who respects the mostly black clientele.
The customer who wore the shirt, Daryl Rollins, said Friday that he has not heard from the Giovannonis since the day after the incident. He said that Sherry Giovannoni apologizing on behalf of the restaurant is not the same as Rick Giovannoni apologizing for his own actions.
Rachel Sherman, one of the main protest organizers, said Friday that an apology is not enough for the community to heal. She said her position remains that Rick Giovannoni should not be profiting off a community that he does not respect.
“Especially in the African American community, when things like this happen, we always get an ‘I’m sorry,’ ” Sherman said in an interview. “But things don’t get better. We want bona fide, tangible change.”
She said the Fish Market of Maryland has long been a cornerstone in the community and that protesters do not want to see it permanently shuttered, but instead sold to another family or group.
Longtime customers said there have long been allegations about racism by Rick Giovannoni, including that he used the n-word to refer to President Barack Obama when he was elected in 2008 and 2012. Longtime customer Carla McClinton said that once in the early 2000s, Rick Giovannoni used the slur when he was talking to her, then told her that he was only joking when she objected. She boycotted the restaurant for six years after that, until friends persuaded her to return.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D), who grew up in the county, previously said that her parents told her that they stopped going to the Fish Market of Maryland years ago because the establishment was notorious for “disrespect and the racial comments.”
“We work hard for our money here,” Alsobrooks said. “We don’t have to patronize businesses that don’t respect us. This is a new day.”
Sherry Giovannoni said that while she’s heard complaints from customers about her husband’s conservative politics, before the protests began she had not heard anyone complain that he used racial slurs.
She said her husband, who has been struggling with a mental health condition, misunderstood the shirt that Rollins, a 43-year-old father of two, was wearing on June 26. She said he thought it was “a spoof” on the killing of Floyd, which Sherry Giovannoni said her husband thought “was horrible.” Shirts, signs and street art with the words “I can’t breathe” — which Floyd repeatedly said as officer Derek Chauvin pressed a knee into his neck — proliferated at nationwide protests calling for an end to police brutality against black men.
Rollins said he doubted the incident was a misunderstanding, given the allegations from other customers of past slurs.
“There is no way that using racial slurs is a misunderstanding,” he said.
Asked why Rick Giovannoni, who has not spoken publicly since the incident, was not apologizing for himself, Sherry Giovannoni said: “We are the Fish Market together.” She also said her husband could not be on the call and is dealing with his mental health condition.
She met with Rollins and protesters the day after the incident and gave a similar explanation of the event. Sherman, who was in the meeting that day, said that the protesters’ issue is not with Sherry Giovannoni and that they are empathetic about any health issues her husband faces. But she said that does not change what the impact of his actions have been.
“You have to look at the greater good for the community,” she said.
July 25, 2020 at 02:18AM
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Following allegations of racism, co-owner of Fish Market apologizes for her husband’s actions - The Washington Post
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