Sportsman Grill

a Freedom Ride destination

The Sportsman Grill was a restaurant targeted by CORE Freedom Riders in 1961

The Sportsman Grill was listed on the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) brochure used as guide for Freedom Riders for the 1961 Route 40 Freedom Ride. The Aberdeen restaurant was on the list of "Restaurants Still Segregated". This meant that the owners had either agreed to desegregate earlier that year and went back on that agreement or had never agreed to desegregate and decided to face the CORE pressure.

A Baltimore Afro-American article about the December 16, 1961 Freedom Ride included a picture of a small group of white Freedom Riders on Route 40 heading to the Sportsman Grill to protest its racist practices. They held signs that read "Let's End Racism in America Now", "Let's Have Dinner Together", and "Let's Desegregate the Whole Free State". As white people, they would not have been denied service due to their race. However, they reflected the multi-racial nature of the movement although the CORE leadership, a majority of the Freedom Riders, and those who were arrested that day were African American. 

In 2021 (at the time of this writing), the building that housed the Sportsman Grill still stood but was a new restaurant named Ray's Carribean American Food had taken its place.

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1436 South Philadelphia Boulevard, Aberdeen, Maryland 21001 ~ The Sportsman Grill building is now called Ray's Caribbean American Food. It is located on the left side of Route 40 in Aberdeen heading east just after Spesutia Road.