After black man is denied membership in a rifle club, SC restaurant has unique salute
Customers might have been confused if they were looking to get a meal at a popular South Carolina restaurant in the past week.
The sign out front was changed, but it was still the same ownership group and menu at the Charleston eatery.
Only the name had been changed. The sign in front of the 89-year-old establishment was changed from Harold’s Cabin to Mel’s Cabin, and included the phrase “where all are welcome.”
According to John Schumacher, the restaurant’s majority owner, the change is a temporary one, but something that makes him proud.
“It’s all about Mel,” Schumacher told The State, referring to Melvin Brown, a doctor, military veteran and regular customer who lives in the neighborhood where the restaurant is located. “He’s just a great guy.”
Schumacher said the name change is a salute to Brown, a black man who was recently denied membership in the Charleston Rifle Club.
When he was planning on opening up a new Harold’s Cabin, Schumacher said he got an email from Brown, who was curious what was going on at the corner establishment. Brown didn’t ask in person because he was serving his second tour in Afghanistan at the time, Schumacher said.
“I got to know him and he became a friend,” Schumacher said of Brown, who has since returned.
That friendship prompted Schumacher to do something after he learned Brown’s membership application had been denied at the rifle club.
Brown would have been its first black member, postandcourier.com reported. Several white members of the all-white club called it “a discriminatory ‘race-based organization’” after 13 white candidates became members but Brown wasn’t granted membership, according to the newspaper. While the club has 800 members, only six are needed to deny membership to an applicant, the newspaper reported.
“We changed the name to support him,” Schumacher told The State. “It’s not a well-kept secret it’s an all-white club. ... Everyone knows he wasn’t accepted because he’s black.”
Messages from The State left with the Charleston Rifle Club seeking comment were not answered.
Dru Patterson, who is president of the club, told the postandcourier.com that “there’s no huge controversy at this club. The club is doing fine.”
In a Facebook post about the name change, Schumacher wrote, “We are proud to call Mel our friend and we are in awe of of all that he’s done for our neighborhood, our city, and our country.”
In spite of his strong feelings of support for Brown, Schumacher said he would not have made the public display without his consent. The restaurant’s majority owner told The State he checked with Brown and his family before he changed the sign, and said his regular customer and friend was “touched.”
“They’re the quintessential bar/restaurant that I’ve always wanted to have in the neighborhood,” Brown said, according to postandcourier.com. “The outpouring of love from them is great.”
Once he had an OK from Brown and his family, Schumacher moved forward, and informed the restaurant staff and the other partners who own a stake of the restaurant. That includes actor and Charleston resident Bill Murray.
Murray is also a member of the Charleston Rifle Club, according to Schumacher, who said he hasn’t spoken to the Academy Award nominee specifically about Brown’s denied membership. Schumacher told The State that Murray is an advocate to integrate the club.
The feedback Schumacher has received has been “overwhelming support.” He said it has come from customers, area residents and people commenting on social media. Schumacher said he knows some members of the club who have withdrawn because they are so disturbed by how Brown was treated.
“We’re just showing support for him and his family.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 6:18 PM with the headline "After black man is denied membership in a rifle club, SC restaurant has unique salute."
