BBQ team members asked to leave park, wonder if race played a part

One Game of Bones competitor accused the Memphis sheriffs in a Facebook post of escorting only the Black members of their team out of the festival. 

Some competitors in the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest believe race may have influenced the decision to order them to leave the competition over the weekend at Tom Lee Park.

Sir Gregory Thornton, a member of the Game of Bones Barbecue team, said the incident began with chairs located too far outside their tent. According to WREG News, he recalled that six sheriff’s deputies arrived and informed them that their tent had been ordered to be closed for the evening, giving them 10 minutes to clean up and depart.

Thornton said he and his team members followed instructions without conflict.

However, soon after, a deputy’s lieutenant allegedly approached him and a friend – both Black men – and said everyone wearing a team shirt had to leave the park. 

Thornton said that two dozen other team members — all white — were permitted to stay.

“As I was walking, I realized I’m walking past my white teammates with team shirts on and you’re not saying anything to him,” Thornton recalled, according to WREG. He said he wasn’t even wearing a team shirt, yet was asked to leave anyway.

Some Game of Bones team members vented their frustrations in social media posts. One person accused the sheriff’s department of escorting the teammates — “only our black members” — out of the park. 

Thornton said he wants an explanation from Memphis in May and the sheriff’s office as to why they spoiled his first time competing in an event he says would have otherwise been a great experience. He contended that for the event to continue, people need to think about and assess why, out of 25 people, organizers only removed two Black men.

Memphis in May insisted its decision had nothing to do with race and asked the team to leave the area after giving multiple warnings for repeatedly violating safety regulations. They were “allowed to return the next morning, host guests, and compete in the competition,” event organizers added in a statement, WREG reported.

Thornton, however, isn’t convinced.

“If this wasn’t about race then why were the two Black men asked to leave when 25 of the white people standing in the same place were allowed to stay and weren’t even spoken to?” Thornton questioned, WREG reported. “I felt unwelcome, and with me being from Memphis, I know this is not what the city of Memphis wants to be about.” 

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