Louisiana barbershop is "whites only."

In Lafayette, Louisiana, barber Herbert Leger put a sign in front of his shop reading "Whites Only." He misspelled "whites," but he got his point across.

From KATC TV-3, in Lafayette:

Herbert Leger: The difference is the technique that you use and they have special technique for cutting black people's hair. Just like there's a special technique for cutting white people's hair. I don't have the training, I don't have the experience, I don't have the knowledge and the technique used in cutting black people's hair.

Mr. Leger says he didn't mean to offend anybody. He just got tired of explaining to black would-be customers that he didn't know how to cut their hair.

As shocking as it is for any commercial establishment to declare itself "whites only" in 2005, I have to admit I would much rather have a white barber decline the opportunity to cut my hair rather than butcher it. I have had that experience. I had just moved to a new town, and noticed a barbershop near my home. I called to see if they took same-day walk-ins. They did. When I walked through the door, the receptionist looked as though... well, as though a black man had just walked through the door. She went into the back. An extraordinarily well-coiffed white man came out and said, "we have a problem. We don't cut black hair." I just looked at him for a moment. He went on, "I don't have any stylists who know how to cut your hair." I thanked him for his candor and left. As odd as it was to be turned away because I was black, it was better than getting a disastrous haircut that would take at least two weeks to grow back in.

That having been said, it strains credulity to suggest that Mr. Herbert Leger has been spending an inordinate amount of time explaining to black people that he doesn't know how to cut their hair. I simply do not believe that there have been so many bruthas taking up his time that this degree of pre-emption is warranted.

Unless he is new in town, a black man pretty much knows where to find a barber. It is almost instinctive. And, frankly, I used to live in Lafayette, LA. It would surprise me if Mr. Herbert Leger sees more than two black men darken his barbershop door in any given year.

Putting a "whites only" sign in front of any building for any reason whatsoever makes no sense at all. Unless, of course, you really just hate talking to black people.