My friends and I recently shopped at the Marshalls in the San Diego/La Jolla area, and our experience was disturbing, insulting, and completely unacceptable.
We were the only Black women in the store, and employees were speaking Spanish among themselves while discussing us and suggesting that we were stealing. What they apparently did not expect was for members of our group to understand exactly what they were saying.
We were not stealing. We were shopping. In fact, our group collectively spent several hundred dollars at this location.
And since assumptions were apparently being made about us based solely on how we looked, let me add some context: we are Black women, we are professionals, and collectively our group earns more than $500,000 annually. We have careers and significant purchasing power, yet somehow we were reduced to a stereotype the moment we walked into this store.
But our professions and income should not matter. Black women earning $500,000 deserves respectful treatment, and a Black woman earning $20,000 deserves the exact same respect. The issue is that no customer should be presumed to be a thief because of the color of her skin.
Speaking Spanish did not make the employees' comments private or acceptable simply because they apparently assumed we could not understand them. We heard what was being said. We understood it. And we understood exactly what was being implied about us.
After leaving the store, we called and spoke with the manager, Aracelia, about what had happened. I do want to acknowledge that she was apologetic and listened to our concerns, and I appreciate her response. However, this never should have happened in the first place. An apology after customers have already been humiliated and made to feel racially profiled cannot undo the experience.
We came into this store as paying customers. We behaved appropriately, shopped, made our purchases, and deserved the same dignity and respect afforded to everyone else in that building.
What makes this especially troubling is that we were the only Black customers in the store. Instead of simply being seen as customers, we were made to feel watched, judged, and suspected.
That is racial stereotyping. It is biased, offensive, and unacceptable.
We collectively spent hundreds of dollars at this Marshalls that day, but after this experience, we will never spend another dollar at this location.
I sincerely hope Aracelia and Marshalls' corporate leadership address this with the employees involved not merely with an apology, but with accountability and appropriate training. No other Black customer should have to experience what we experienced.
Being Black is not probable cause. Being Black while shopping is not suspicious behavior.
We walked into Marshalls as customers ready to spend our money. We walked out feeling stereotyped because we were Black.
Marshalls La Jolla, you lost several paying customers that day and it had absolutely nothing to do with your merchandise. read more