Oct. 31, 2003 - PERRY, Fla.--Florida's attorney general is investigating complaints a hotel owner told a group of blacks that "coloreds" were not allowed in his pool.

Attorney General Charlie Crist demanded records Thursday from the owner of Perry's Southern Inn, who denied that he ever discriminated against blacks or anyone else.

"I don't discriminate against anyone, black, white, whatever," said Raj Patel, the hotel's owner. "I'm in business. I can't do that."

Patel, a dark-skinned man who immigrated from India about 15 years ago, said he has been a victim of prejudice.

The incident again highlighted the deep racial divisions in the tiny way stop of Perry. Two years ago another incident exposed the town to national scrutiny when a black Maryland lawmaker was told he couldn't have a beer in the front room of a local bar.

On Thursday, Crist said a black man named Dwayne Parker came to the Southern Inn in mid-July for a family reunion. Allison Bethel, chief of the Civil Rights division of the Florida Attorney General's Office, said Patel told several unnamed relatives of Parker that "coloreds are not allowed in the pool."

"We take this very seriously. It's outrageous. It shouldn't happen," Bethel said.

Parker could not be reached for comment Thursday. Patel and his wife, Camie, both said they did not recall Parker's visit, though they said people in town for family reunions often stay at his hotel.

Many times, he said, those visitors will bring outside guests in to use the pool, which he does not allow. Patel said it was possible he had told Parker's relatives they could not use the pool for that reason.

Because of his own skin color, Patel said he would never use the word "colored."

He said that after the Sept. 11 attacks, some Perry residents looked at him suspiciously because of his ethnic background. Some businesses went so far as to post "American-owned" signs in their windows.

"There are too many rednecks in this town," Patel said.

Although the witnesses told the Attorney General's Office that Patel made the comments, his wife said they could have been made by a white hotel clerk who worked there at the time.

The woman was forced to resign last month after a different customer complained about a racist comment she made regarding blacks using the swimming pool, Camie Patel said.

That customer, Joe Lehman, an insulation contractor, said Thursday that he had been staying at the hotel with some of his employees in late August or early September. The clerk confronted him after three of his black employees went swimming.

"She told me if they allowed black people in there, every black person in the neighborhood would come in there to start swimming," Lehman. "That comment really upset me, and that's when I went to the owners."

Lehman said the Patels apologized and said everyone was welcomed to swim in the pool.

The attorney general discounted the owner's explanations, saying the investigation was based on "multiple witnesses."

"They were very emphatic," Crist said. "One of my greatest hopes would be that it was simply a misunderstanding, but I don't believe that."

Bethel said the state would file a civil rights lawsuit, if necessary, but would prefer to settle the case.

Raj Patel insisted he did nothing wrong.

"I'm going to fight it all the way. I'm not guilty," Raj Patel said.

Two years ago, a black member of Maryland's state legislature stopped in for a drink at the Perry Package Store and Lounge, which sits a few miles from the Southern Inn. Because he was black, the lawmaker said, a bartender told him he could not be served in the front room. The case brought protests from New York civil rights activist Al Sharpton and a civil lawsuit from then Attorney General Bob Butterworth.

The owner eventually settled by agreeing to give up his liquor license and pay a $15,000 fine. The incident was one of the things Crist referenced when asking legislators to strengthen Florida's civil rights laws earlier this year.

The law gives Crist broad new powers to investigate civil rights violations, including a $10,000 penalty, and he pledged to quickly use the new tools to go after civil rights violators.

The package store brought promises from local leaders to improve race relations in Perry. Rhonda Williams, who co-chaired the local Human Relations Committee, said the motel investigation shows little has improved in the divided town.

Williams, who is black, said there is a general perception among black residents that Perry hotel pools are off-limits to people with dark skin.

"It's almost like separate water fountains," Williams said. "The perception is that their pools are intimate spaces, that they don't want to share with people who don't look like them."

"In 2003, this shouldn't be happening," Williams said. "Maybe Perry needs the additional exposure to move forward."

By Sean Mussenden and Bob Mahlburg. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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