Whittier Cafe Vandalized With Racial Slur

Chris Walker May 30, 2018 2:35PM

Whittier Cafe Facebook Page

A racial slur was discovered Wednesday morning scrawled on a wooden railing in front of Whittier Cafe, a popular coffee shop and eatery at 1710 East 25th Avenue.

Jeff Fard, who runs Brother Jeff's Cultural Center in Five Points and is husband to the cafe's owner, Millete Birhanemaskel, posted a picture of the racist message on Facebook on May 30.

"Is this how someone(s) disrespect a Black woman, community owned business?" Fard wrote. "Not in this town! Share."

The message was quickly covered, and Whittier Cafe remains open for business. The Denver Police Department says the incident is "currently being investigated by the Graffiti Unit and the Bias Motivated Crime detectives."

Update: This story has new information from the Denver Police Department.

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Chris Walker is a freelancer and former staff writer at Westword. Before moving to the Mile High City he spent two years bicycling across Eurasia, during which he wrote feature stories for VICE, NPR, Forbes, and The Atlantic. Read more of Chris's feature work and view his portfolio here.

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