On Sunday, August 31, 2014, I found myself at the Gateway Mall in Brooklyn. The new set of stores (Phase II) include J.C. Penney's. Flashback: Twenty years ago, I stopped going there. I walked into the jewelry department and before I could say "Hello" and articulate my needs, a white, female worker blurted out, "The discount section is over there." I struggled with that racist comment for a long time and I never stepped foot in J.C. Penney's again.
J.C. Penney's partitioned off a portion of the parking lot. There were free kiddie rides and free food, free this, that and the other. It was impressive. African-American men, women, school age children, newborns and the unborn were there in droves. On principle, the parents should have walked right on by the place because in that same so-called festive atmosphere - lining the sidewalk was a squad car and at least six NYPD white officers with guns. East New York is an African-American community. Penney's invited the community in to indulge in freebies AND, simultaneously, served up double, heaping doses of disrespect. What an insult! AA can't protest peacefully without heavy duty police presence and apparently they can't be trusted to eat a free taco or slurp on a free popsicle without police presence, either. AA are being negatively redefined on even the most basic level. When I looked up, each of the cops had their hands perched on their guns as if at-the-ready. They were glaring into the crowd like leopards or bald eagles waiting to pounce onto their prey. In light of the murder in Staten Island and the murder in Missouri - how very, very unwise it was to have police presence at what was suppose to be a family-oriented gathering. It was totally inappropriate. Besides having their own negative, preconceived notions about AA, these unseasoned NYPDers do not seem to critically-think. They operate on raw, antagonistic emotion. Shoot first, ask question later. Their motto, "Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect (CPR) is on the very bottom of their "to-do" lists. Is someone in the corporate echelon really that afraid of AA people? The rent-a-cop idea emanated from the top of the chain, for sure. What did Penney's anticipate happening? It would be nice to hear exactly what the worse case scenarios were that warranted an executive decision to have armed police presence at a family affair. What a dichotomy! If something was to happen and the boys-in-blue interceded - either a child or the parent of a child would have gotten trampled, injured, maimed or killed. The catalyst for riot and unrest would have been the armed individuals hired by Penney's to so-called "protect and serve." Was that a concern or does AA life have absolutely no meaning? So, it's ok for AA folks to spend their money at Penney's but there's a BIG but here. But... we don't have to respect you? Is Penney's aware that once NYPD pulls that gun out from the holster, the motto is "shoot to kill?" Of course, they are. Here's a novel idea, if darker hues offends the senses, hire plain clothes men - make your obvious motives, less overt. The 75th Precinct has community affairs officers. They wear polo tops that say "Community Affairs" and they give off the illusion that their mission is about community togetherness, blah...blah. Their presence is less intimidating. Shame, shame on you J.C. Penney's. read more