ve years ago, Denny's restaurant chain was caught up in a huge national controversy. After it became know n
 that many of its restaurants routinely discriminated against African American customers. Denny's restaurant
 would not serve African American customers by not seating them, and then making them wait an inordinately
 long time for service.

 To me, the most poignant-and infuriating example of this practice occurred to six black Secret Service agents
 who were refused service at a Denny's restaurant in Annapolis, Md., in May 1993. That morning, the agents
 were on their way to provide security for President Clinton's appearance at the U.S. Naval Academy.

 In recounting what happened, agent Alfonso M. Dyson said, "You never would think it would happen to you,
 especially not in full uniform. I was definitely unprepared. I had let my guard down."

 This statement is a devastating rebuke to anyone who thinks that anti-black bigotry is no longer a significant fact
 of American life today.

 What brought this incident, and these thoughts to my mind is that recently two Denny's restaurants were accused
 of discriminating against black customers. This time, the state is Florida, and the African Americans are state
 corrections officers and 40 sixth-grade children and their chaperones on their way to Disney World.

 No, I do not believe these incidents are the fault of Denny's company itself, which appears to have made
 commendable progress in building its commitment to equal opportunity in employment and the curteous
 treatment of all its customers.

 We need to view these incidents for what they are, telling indicators that America's racist past still exists in the
 American present. As in the past, African Americans endure significant denial of opportunity still suffer from
 overt acts of racism.

 In New Jersey on April 23, there were four young men-three African Americans and one Hispanic American who
 were shot after their van was stopped by New Jersey state troopers on the state turnpike on their way from New
 York to North Carolina for a basketball clinic.

 The police contend they stopped the van because it was speeding. They also suspected that the men were
 carrying illegal drugs in it.

 The men, through their attorneys, contend that they were not speeding. They contend that they were stopped
 solely because of the color of their skin.

 The case is still under investigation. But enough questions have been raised about the police account, the
 discrepancies between the police account and those of the young men, and the accounts of several witnesses
 to the incident that contradict the police account to suggest that, the young men were vicitms of "racial profiling."
 This is the notorious, racist police practice-the offense of driving while black, African Americans call it-which
 presumes that black and Hispanic motorists are likely to be criminals and thus can be stopped arbitrarily.

 News reports about the incident have made clear that the New Jersey State Police has a long history of
 accusations of racism against members of its own force who are not white. They also substantiate that two
 years ago a state court found that state police in New Jersey have engaged in "racist profiling" along the
 turnpike. The state troopers' reputation for this is well known. One witness to the incident, an engineer, told The
 New York Times that he was driving home along the turnpike that night-"carefully," he noted, "because as a
 black man he was wary of the police."

 This man has learned that regardless of his personal achievements, and his contribution to the larger society he
 cannot let his guard down. And those who believe in a just society should find that fact as appalling as when
 Alfonso Dyson, an agent of the Secret Service, said it.

 Author Affiliation:

 Hugh B. Price is president of the National Urban League.