Butter and Jam Cafe Owner Bill Gelling RACIST ESTABLISHMENT! OWNER WILL TRY TO SILENCE YOU IF YOU SPEAK OUT! Madison New Jersey
Butter and Jam Cafe in Madison New Jersey, Owned by Bill Gelling is a racist establshment. They are extremely friendly to white people, but if you're a person of color Bill will refuse you service. If you email him to complain about your experience, his response is to try to silence you and tell you he's going to sue you for defamation!
He also doesn't like to be called a white man (which he is).
I visited the cafe with my daughter for lunch, this was our third visit, but the first time we encountered Bill. When my daughter went into the store to ask for a table, Bill refused to serve her. He was extremely hostile towards her, even though she had just previously witnessed him being kind and chatty with two white women in front of her.
My daughter went home, naturally, very upset about the whole experience and she wrote to Bill, hoping to get an alternative explanation for the deferential she received from him. Instead of addressing her concerns and offering her an apology and an explanation, he first tried to say it was because he was short staffed and said something about patio seating not being available.
My daughter tried to explain the patio seating was not the issue at all, and the issue was the way he spoke to her, scolded her and told her she needed to order to go. She noted the vast difference in which he treated the two customers in front of her, who happened to be two white women, and she tried to express to him how the contrast of the unfriendly and hostile way he spoke to her made her feel, as a woman of color.
Instead of addressing her concerns respectfully, Bill decided to escalate the hostilities and emailed her telling her she's never welcomed at the restaurant again (fair enough, we aren't going back) and threatened to sue her! So yes, if you speak out about your unfair treatment, Bill's instinct is to try to silence people of color with threats of lawsuit.
This place is not safe for people of color, because Bill Gelling, the owner is a racist!
There are various reviews on yelp and google of receiving poor service and unfair treatment and they are all from people of color. Including one the owner claims is a "disgrutled ex employee."
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Carey
United StatesWell..
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, September 23, 2022
I don't know if he is a racist or not. I certainly will not condemn him just based on what your daughter alone claims to have experienced. I see you have also put this in writing on the cafe's Facebook page. If I were Bill, I might seriously think about a lawsuit for slander, libel and defamation. But if what you described really happened and there is a pattern here, then that is horrible and inexcusable.
Katie
Brea,California,
United States
UPDATE Racist and Intolerant Facebook Posts
#3Author of original report
Thu, September 15, 2022
My daughter, a person of color, was denied service by Bill Gelling, the owner of Butter and Jam Cafe on Tuesday, September 13, 2022. Bill claims my daughter's accusations of racism are "far from the truth", however Bill publicly posts intolerant and discriminatory posts on his facebook page against people of color, immigrants and transexuals.
Unfortunately for Bill who threatened to sue us for defamation, if we speak out against him, it's not defamation when he voluntarily posts the information himself on his own public facebook page. I have included screen shots from Bill's facebook page (under his full name William Gelling) that backs up our claims.
These screen shots include a post made by Bill against a Muslim-American child, another post against Syrian refugees, a tirade against Stephen King for speaking out against Black racism, and a screen shot of Bill mocking a bill designed to protect transexuals.
The point of this report is to make others aware that Butter and Jame Cafe, despite it's cozy, family friendly vibe is owned by a man who has expressed unfriendly opinions towards various marginalized communities. Please don't be fooled by the indie cafe vibe of this place and think it's a safe space for all, it is not. My daughter walked into the cafe and was treated was unwelcome by Bill, simply for being the wrong skin color.
She tried to email him to talk things out and Bill further treated her with hostilities and threatened her with a lawsuit. Enter this business with great caution if you are from a marginalized community. Bill has already expressed in his facebook posts exactly what he thinks about people like us.