Norwich — My 30-year friend Richard Rothstein, a distinguished Norwich attorney, approached me recently with a question.

“Would you ever interview Brett White?” he asked, alluding to a client he’s representing. “I think you should hear his story.”

White is the now former employee from the Wendy’s in Plainfield, who was arrested in February after admitting to spewing racial slurs at two Black basketball coaches from Woodstock Academy.

Full disclosure: I’d written a column after the incident, suggesting White be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

And now Rothstein, a man I know to be fair and decent, suddenly made me recall a scene from “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.” Monsignor Ryan says to Matt Drayton (Spencer Tracy), “That's very interesting, very interesting indeed, and rather amusing too, to see a broken down old phony liberal come face to face with his principles.”

More disclosure: I’ve bristled all week at the criticism “60 Minutes” has taken over its recent interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene. While I find her to be a toxic crackpot who absolutely should be held accountable for her words, she still has the right to tell her story. As do we all. Suggesting that “60 Minutes” lost credibility for airing her views shows dizzying levels of ignorance as to the principles that built this country.

It’s supposed to be a free exchange of ideas, after which the readers/listeners/viewers get to make up their own minds, all the burgeoning echo chambers of 2023 notwithstanding.

Hence, I accepted Rothstein’s invitation. Rothstein, White and I met Wednesday in Rothstein’s office. Here is what transpired:

White, 22, was born in Danielson and attended Killingly High School, but did not graduate, completing his junior year. He said his mother died when he was a baby. He called his father “a heavy alcoholic.” He said he has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a developmental disorder affecting ability to effectively socialize and communicate. He said he has anger issues.

On the night in question, White was arrested on second-degree breach of peace, after admitting to yelling racial slurs and refusing to serve Woodstock Academy basketball coaches Denzel Washington and Donte Adams. The charges were later increased to a hate crime, of “intimidation based on bigotry or bias in the third-degree and deprivation of a person’s equal rights and privileges by force or threat.”

Wendy’s immediately dismissed White from his job. Susie Schulz, a spokeswoman for Meritage Hospitality Group, which owns the Pratt Road Wendy's, said the company has "zero tolerance for racial harassment or discrimination."

White was in Danielson Superior Court earlier this week. The case was continued.

White’s account of the night began with a directive from Wendy’s upper management that the restaurant was to close early “to clean the hoods” over the grills and fryers. The goal, White, said, was to close by the lobby (dining area) around 9 p.m., earlier than the customary 10 p.m.

“It turned out that we had to stay open a little later because somebody who was under the influence at the drive thru backed up into somebody else’s car,” he said. “That held up the drive thru for 10-20 minutes. This was right about when the bus pulled up.

“When the first kid came in, I said that we couldn’t take orders inside, but that they could order through the drive thru. Truckers walk up to the drive thru all the time because their trucks can’t fit. That's when I realized I should call my general manager because now we have a bus full and we also had to close. She didn't answer. By now, one of my co-workers was getting nervous, saying ‘the kids don't get what we're doing. They want their food and they're gonna come back there and make it themselves.’”

White said the Woodstock team had visited the Wendy’s before on trips home without incident.

“I told the coaches, ‘I'm sorry for the inconvenience. We can't take your orders inside right now. I have to go call my general manager to see what we can do. She hasn't answered me. I'm sorry for that. I can't take your order inside right now,’” White said. “The coaches and kids just refused to accept it and kept saying the same things over and over. Finally, I'm like ‘dude, I don't know what I can do for you. I'm sorry. I can't take your order inside.’

“One of the coaches started walking away and said, ‘you people and your excuses.’ Then he called me a (bleeping) retard and walked out the door. That’s when I used the bad language. And (one of the coaches) heard it going out the door. He came running back and said, ‘did you call me that?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ The police came after that.”

The “bad language” included racial slurs, including the N-word.

Here is what I asked White: “Just because you got mad at them doesn’t mean you had to use the N-word. What made you use that? There are other words out there you could use to convey anger.”

“I know,” he said. “I regret it. I shouldn’t have said it. I have anger issues. I have Asperger's. But I didn’t appreciate being called retarded. I took that personally.”

I called Woodstock Academy headmaster Chris Sandford on Thursday to inquire about the alleged “retarded” comment.

“It’s my first time hearing about it,” Sandford said, adding there would be no other comment from the school while the case was still pending. “It’s the first time in all our conversations with the prosecutor's office or in conversations with the police I’ve heard that.”

White said he would like to apologize to Washington, Adams and the students, but has learned through Rothstein that the apology wouldn’t be accepted.

“The apology would go through the prosecutor (Lou Luba),” Rothstein said. “I called and tried to set up a meeting. I said, ‘my guy would like to meet your people. I will go with him right to the school. And we'll meet the two coaches as well as any students who want to be there. He feels bad about what he did and would like to apologize for that.

“I didn’t hear from the prosecutor for several weeks. Eventually, he said he talked to the school and coaches and they wouldn’t accept the apology.

“I understand that apologizing is not making the case go away. I've been around a long time. The man feels bad for what he did. We're not presenting a case where he's denying anything. Many times you have cases where the other side doesn't show remorse.”

Sandford said, “We’ve never had an official offer to apologize. My understanding from what the judge has said is there is to be no contact between parties.”

White said he is undergoing therapy through United Community and Family Services.

“I don't have many friends anymore. I still have Black friends. They don't appreciate what I said and they’ve already voiced their opinions and I apologized to them,” White said. “I get death threats all the time. People told me I should go kill myself. Jump off a bridge. I can’t even play video games because someone reported me and I got banned permanently. I can't get a job. I wear a face mask most of the time when I go out because I feel like I'm gonna get jumped.”

Later in the conversation, White recalled events from his childhood.

“I mentioned to my therapist that as a kid growing up, my dad was a heavy alcoholic and he had mixed friends. And they'd come over, some Black, Mexican and Spanish. They’d dare me. They’d say ‘call me that name. Here’s five bucks. Do it, do it.’ So I did it.

“I’m sorry I used those words then. I’m sorry now. It's unacceptable, no matter what. It's not allowed. If people don't accept the apology, I understand. But I'm genuinely sorry. I have no other words. I have no excuses.”

Rothstein: “Everyone makes mistakes. This man has done everything to try and address that mistake. He's gone to therapy. He's paid a price because he's lost his job. He wants to apologize because he's boiling inside over this particular incident.”

Now you get to make up your own mind about what you’ve just read. I believe White has trouble expressing himself, is sorry for what he said and perhaps one day when this is over, should sit down with Adams, Washington and the Woodstock players for a long conversation. Maybe that’s the best path toward better understanding each other.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro