Destiny Burton
Google
I had a deeply disappointing and discriminatory experience at the Dick’s Sporting Goods in Plymouth Meeting. As I was arriving, I saw a Black man being arrested for shoplifting at the entrance. While I had no connection to the situation, it became clear very quickly that both the manager and the police associated me with him simply because of our shared race.
While I was in the store, the manager told me I needed to “go to church and pray.” As a Muslim woman who was fully covered, this comment was beyond offensive and completely inappropriate. I asked her to repeat herself, and she said it again. When I rightfully challenged her, the situation escalated, and instead of addressing her discriminatory behavior, I was detained by police for “trespassing.”
I’m well aware of Dick’s policy that allows them to ask people to leave their property if they’re disruptive. But in this case, that policy was clearly used to target me unfairly, not because of my actions, but because of my appearance and religion.
If you’re a person of color or practice a non-Christian faith, I strongly urge you to be cautious at this location. It’s clear that judgments are being made based on race and religion, not behavior.
I’m incredibly disappointed in both Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Plymouth Meeting Police Department for how this was handled. We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, not profiled and humiliated.