Will Sutton: Why Stab’s Baton Rouge Chose the Wrong Family | Columnist Will Sutton

Stab’s Prime Steak and Seafood can be described as a chic, linen tablecloth, top-shelf steakhouse, a Baton Rouge go-to for some of the region’s power players who want great food and a “who’s who” experience. Others save their Benjamins for a special occasion.

But Stab’s has been harassing the wrong woman. A few days ago, a manager/owner asked family nurse Y’Mine McClanahan to leave the restaurant because her crop top was too revealing.

Oh, hell (my word, not his) no, said Michael McClanahan, Y’Mine’s father and president of Louisiana’s NAACP State Conference. “That’s my only daughter,” he told me. “My mini-me.” Y’Mine’s middle name is Michael, not Michelle. He also calls Y’Mine, 32, “Little Mike” and “Baby Boo.”

“They don’t know who your daddy is,” someone posted on mini-me’s Facebook page. “I won’t support them anymore.”

Y’Mine’s father was the president of the NAACP Baton Rouge Branch before he moved up. “Stab’s is a place where people hang out, people of power and status,” he told me. “It’s not a place where you get $5 for a meal.”

He is certain that what happened to his daughter would not have happened to a white woman wearing the same outfit. He also thinks it is body shaming. One of his first reactions when his daughter told him what had happened was to threaten to show up in a top.

Y’Mine got engaged in June at a Greek fraternity event in Baton Rouge. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome was there. Broome’s challenger Ted James was there. If you’re anybody in Baton Rouge, you were there. The elder McClanahan is involved in a lot of things in Louisiana, including his daughter’s life. She said he arranged her engagement to Raes Malik, a teacher at East Baton Rouge Schools, so it would be special.

Just wait until the wedding.

Y’Mine is the vice president of the Baton Rouge NAACP. She saw her father’s plea. She knows how to stay calm, state her opinion diplomatically, and then take action.

She posted photos and videos of the incident on her Miney M Mac Facebook page. More than 1,800 people commented. Thousands of people shared the post. Restaurants across the country invited her to dine with them — wearing the same crop top.

Michael McClanahan has three degrees from Southern University. Y’Mine McClanahan has a bachelor’s and a master’s from Southern University. She is on track to earn a doctorate in nursing in May 2025. Many Southern alumni, faculty and students are watching.

Michael McClanahan likes Stab’s, but he prefers Acme, TJ Rib’s and Parrain’s. He likes the more laid back atmosphere.

Good fathers are protective of their children, especially daughters, so be careful who you insult. You never know if she’s someone’s daughter. You never know if she’s the daughter of the most prominent NAACP official in the state.

It is also not a good idea to unite the Jaguar nation in the south with an incident like this.

Standby Stab’s. Michael McClanahan, who is also an attorney, said he can’t just let this go.