The lead singer of an iconic Motown band accused a Detroit-area hospital of racial discrimination after revealing his celebrity status to employees, and they responded by donning a straitjacket.
Instead of taking the identity of Four Tops’ Alexander Morris seriously, hospital staff allegedly restrained the musician and told him to “get his black ass down”.
“They thought I was dreaming,” Morris, who is black, told Fox 2 Detroit. “I believe it was started by racism.”
According to local broadcaster ABC 7 Detroit, Morris was taken by ambulance to Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital on April 7 after experiencing chest pain. Due to his past safety issues, Morris tried to explain who he was to the hospital staff. Detroit News but said they did not believe anything he had to say and refused to see proof of identity.
Morris has been performing as the lead singer of Four Tops since 2019. The R&B band was formed in the 1950s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
“They racially profiled [Morris] and thought he was lying,” said lawyer Maurice Davis, Detroit News. “Instead of a successful Black man, they thought he was mentally ill and put him in a straitjacket.”
Morris joined the iconic Four Tops in 2019.
YouTube/Fox 2 Detroit
Morris said he felt mistreated because of his race.
“It doesn’t matter if I succeed, because I’m Black,” he said, according to ABC 7. “I’m automatically kicked out. I’m automatically worthless.”
Davis added that the ordeal included a “fake jail sentence” as Morris was prevented from leaving after donning the straitjacket for a psychological evaluation.
“The head of security told him to sit his Black ass on the floor,” Davis said, according to Fox 2. “They didn’t let him go. …[Morris] ‘Okay, I’ll seek treatment elsewhere,’ he said; They refused and said he was not going anywhere.”
Click Detroit reported that the musician was restrained for about an hour.
“He was treated like a mental patient instead of the successful Black man he was,” Davis said.
According to Click on Detroit, Morris was finally able to prove who he was when his wife arrived at the hospital, and a local grocer was offered an apology in the form of a $25 gift certificate. Regardless, Morris plans to sue Ascension Hospital for racial profiling and discrimination.
On Tuesday, the hospital issued a statement saying it “does not condone any form of racial discrimination.”
“The health, safety and well-being of our patients, staff and community members remains our top priority,” the statement said. “We are determined to honor human dignity and to act with integrity and compassion for all individuals and society.”
But according to ABC 7, Morris was horrified that his life was apparently only worth $25.
“There’s no way I can get that off my mind,” he said.