Selena L.
Yelp
I truly went into the store excited and like I was stepping into my dream store. however, within 10 minutes of being in the store, I felt profiled and targeted as a brown latina by their employees after picking up a clock and putting it back on the same shelf. I was accused of stealing, they wanted to search my bag, and after finding nothing, they did not apologize until I was near the cash register to pay, and only came to apologize because they had found the misplaced clock -- which is what they should have done in the first place, instead of making me feel unsafe and uncomfortable in their store. When confronted about the way I had felt targeted as a person of color, the manager claimed that she had people of color working for her, and that they had just had a team discussion about how they wanted to check in on customers in case they needed something -- mind you, 3 times within the span of 5 minutes is not necessary -- and having an employee in every aisle I wandered is called being watched. Lastly, I'd like to ask the manager to learn how to apologize -- when you apologize, take ownership of the hurt you caused. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." No-- I made it clear you made me feel targeted and uncomfortable -- so it's not an if, it's that you did.
to everyone that I interacted with, I hope you realize your white privilege in being able to step into a predominantly white space and feel no fear of false accusations, of stares, and being followed in a store. I hope you use this as a learning moment for the racism and biases you may not know you hold.
objectivity, for those interested, this was how the events took place:
I picked up a clock and noted how cute it was to my partner, and we put it back next to the other exact same clocks. maybe 3-5 minutes later, an employee comes up to me and asks if I liked the clock, and if I put it back. I say I was still deciding if I wanted to buy it, but yeah, I put it back. Her response, "uhh okay," seemed as though she didn't believe me, and I immediately felt uncomfortable. As I continued to roam the aisles, I had multiple employees, at least 3 different people within the span of 5-10 minutes, ask if I needed anything as they stayed in the same aisles I roamed. I kept saying I was fine, and thanked them. I noticed a woman come out of the back office, and ask her co-worker ask "Who are we looking at?" and shortly after, came and asked me if I needed help with the clock. I repeated the same thing I said earlier, and when she claimed the clock was gone, I asked if I wanted she wanted to search my bag, because I had not left the store. upon finding nothing, she thanked me, and walked away. I walked away not knowing whether to leave or continue browsing, because I was genuinely excited to buy the things I had found. later, the manager came to thank me being "so kind" about the situation, but I let her know how targeted, uncomfortable, and unsafe I felt as one of the few people of color in her store. She told me that she actually had people of color working in her store, but clearly, that didn't make for the way I had felt. She proceeded to give a bad apology, as detailed above.
So, all in all, black and brown folk, beware of this predominantly white space. at least amazon doesn't make me want to cry while I'm shopping.