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But, he told the Anti Racism Task Force at its first meeting Wednesday, he wonders why the people, whom he described as skinheads, weren't charged with hate crimes.
He was told that they said they were going to his club "to show those niggers," he said.
And after the meeting, Gillespie showed a dollar bill with the words, "Go back to your country" written on top, which he said the bottle throwers gave one of his bartenders as a tip before the incident.
Gillespie also said police never came inside to talk with his bartenders or customers. "Our word doesn't mean anything," he said. "We were not heard from. My bartender got hit with a bottle, but officers didn't ask them for statements."
Police Chief Ed Kondracki in a telephone interview after the meeting said he was unaware of the incident. But he said a hate crime charge is an enhancer that can be added to a charge by the district attorney if he thinks it is warranted.
"There has to be proveable intent," Kondracki said, "and that is often difficult."
Members of the task force and concerned residents including Gillespie who attended the meeting said there is plenty of reason for a racism task force here.
"We hear about it and sometimes see it on a daily basis," said Denis Tucker, executive associate director of the La Crosse Area Hmong Mutual Assistance Association.
"I see this daily. I live it," said Lester Simpson, another concerned resident who attended the meeting. "You're never going to get rid of racism. But my hope is that there can be more respect."
The other day, he said a man, who had been behind him as they crossed the Mississippi River Bridge, pulled alongside his vehicle. "He called me nigger, I guess because I wasn't going as fast as he wanted," Simpson said.
Other people told of more subtle insults, such as continually mispronouncing the name of a Hmong person. "It is a tiny form of disrespect that people in power do," said Al Carrimon, a concerned resident.
"I see some of the disrespect in the social services," Simpson said. "They will say, ‘Well, you people.' Then I get an attitude. Or when someone says, ‘Hey boy.' "
Racism is bad here, said Nhia Vang. Hmong do not complain much, he said, "because we have learned to keep our mouths shut. We just hope that things will turn out better."
But he told of trying to help another Hmong person buy a trailer and put it on a lot. At the trailer lot, he said the owner said he would not rent to the man.
There are laws prohibiting such discrimination, committee members agreed. But they said often lawyers will not take the cases and tell people of color they do not have a chance of winning.
La Crosse is becoming more diverse and many people in the community are not ready for the diversity, said Mayor John Medinger, who called for the task force. "We are not going to try to save the world, but we are going to try to make La Crosse a better place to live. I am not sure if there is a bigger challenge for the future of our community than race."
He said he has heard that African-Americans say the city is a place "where you go on vacation, and leave on probation."
If the city does not handle racism, Medinger predicted it will see issues "like you see in other cities."
But he said the subject is like religion, in that people avoid talking about it for fear of arguments. He urged the task force to be open to comments, including some that may be emotional.
"If you can't take the heat, you probably should not be in this room," he said, "because if you can't talk about it here, where can you?"
Joan Kent can be reached at (608) 791-8221 or jkent@lacrossetribune.com.
