Arrested For Being Black At Barney's, NYC

[gsdx]

Are you fucking KIDDING me? He didn't look like someone who would have $350?

Chill your ass, dude. I said it only because it was stated in the article. If he looked like someone who would have $350, why did the clerk report him to the police and why did the cops ask him where he got it?

Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[bankside]

Once the ID were checked, the issue should've been over.

Yup.

I blame the police for responding to someone crying wolf. And then for arresting someone doing his shopping.

 

[Taz]

Chill your ass, dude. I said it only because it was stated in the article. If he looked like someone who would have $350, why did the clerk report him to the police and why did the cops ask him where he got it?

Don't shoot the messenger.

And who makes the arbitrary decision as to whether somebody looks like they have that kind of money? Do I look like I have treefiddy? Do you niel?

That was simply an excuse, this is profiling through and through.

 

[darden]

And who makes the arbitrary decision as to whether somebody looks like they have that kind of money? Do I look like I have treefiddy? Do you niel?

That was simply an excuse, this is profiling through and through.

not necessarily racial profiling, though.

it's a pretty common experience regardless of race to get treated like trash by the sales people in a high-end store unless you walk in wearing designer clothes. there was a whole bit about it in Pretty Woman even.

 

[gsdx]

And who makes the arbitrary decision as to whether somebody looks like they have that kind of money?

It certainly wasn't me. I don't understand this attack. It wasn't even my opinion.

 

[Kulindahr]

Are you fucking KIDDING me? He didn't look like someone who would have $350? He's a kid getting a college education in engineering with a job. What about him "didn't look like" such a thing were possible?

Decided to finally put this in....

When in college, for a sociology class the class conducted an experiment. Part of it involved four guys in the class who wore the same size clothes -- one white blond blue eyes, one white red hair, one Asian, one black. They put together several different ensembles of clothing and accessories, and proceeded to visit, individually, a number of different stores. Another student went along to observe and record reactions to situations.

The ONLY ensemble that got them all treated the same was an expensive 'European cut' suit (borrowed from the drama department). Even the outfit of a Catholic priest, all black with clerical collar and the rest, didn't quite level the field (the Asian guy got treated with suspicion).

I can't recall all the bits they did, but a few.... pretending to not have enough cash, having only a large bill for a small purchase, asking to get ahead of others in line at check-out, and asking if a shirt came in a color not on the racks.

 

[gsdx]

It sounded as if you were defending/justifying their racist opinions.

I wasn't. He was judged purely on his appearance and colour by both the clerk who served him and the police, who actually (according to the article), cleared his ID and then arrested him anyway.

To repeat an earlier post, if Justin Bieber went into Barney's dressed like this but the clerk didn't know who he was, do you think the clerk would have questioned Justin's cards and ID? I don't think so, even if Justin had stolen Trayon's wallet and was using his credit card. He wouldn't have used the debit card PIN number. It's doubtful that the clerk would even have compared the signatures.

In all my years here at JUB, I have never, ever condoned racist behaviour, and anyone here who knows me knows that.

 

[Thad1527]

There are no alternatives to buying from racist pigs in NY.

Yes, there are. Come to Philadelphia. Shop for the same prestige brands at Boyds. Better yet...no sales tax on clothing in Pennsylvania guarantees a better deal. And as far as I know, the racism isn't apparent.

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

Oh, wonderful. now Sharpton's involved.

 

[Kabluey]

I guess the only real lesson here is that people who sell $350 belts are knob heads.
Always had an inkling that might be the case.

 

[kallipolis]

^A brilliant observation...nevertheless, I believe that most of us have been extravagant at least one time in our life, with the further thought that our moment of insanity was not because we felt a need to emulate the rich, and famous....possibly, to raise our sense of self esteem, especially in our younger years when we made not a few dumb decisions, spending our hard earned dollars in a reckless manner.... with the passage of time, and growing wisdom we learnt/we are learning that our foolishness became a wise teacher........and I have no doubt that the young man under review in this thread will eventually learn the value of not wasting his money on designer goods manufactured to address the vanities of those who might well have been satisfied with a Dollar 20 belt.

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

I don't see why you two seem to parlay that the lesson here is that extravagance is punishable.

Maybe I just don't get the point of view fully.

 

[palbert]

I don't see why you two seem to parlay that the lesson here is that extravagance is punishable.

Maybe I just don't get the point of view fully.

Do not frustrate the soon-to-be film, Rise of the Termagant.

 

[xbuzzerx]

Absolutely true, but multiple posters have already reminded us that snob-appeal retailers are in the business of profiling, now aren't they? They continue the churn of hype in media that says "if you want respect, you must exhibit fashion that tells all that you are a member of our class." That the employees buy into the propaganda can be no shock -- they have all drunk the Kool-Aid, haven't they?

What is also true is that they profile everyone.

Of course this ignores the fact that in America a black person with a really expensive car or item, or a black person in a really expensive neighborhood, is perceived as being a criminal or up to suspicious activity simply because they are black, having nothing to do with how they are dressed. Professor Gates being arrested for entering his own home or Trayvon Martin being trailed and profiled by a vigilante with a gun on his way home to a gated community would be cases in point.

Sorry Deja... it's not equal treatment of everyone.

 

[Kulindahr]

Sadly, but not surprisingly, he is once again advocating the action that would be the most stupid course possible: boycotting the snob retailers would yield exactly what actual racists involved would enjoy most, the absence of black patrons. After all, the volume of sales to blacks must be a very small number for this bias to even be possible anyway. We all know that the income divide disproportionately affects minorities, and blacks more than others. And, it is hard to imagine the elite from other ethnic groups bothering to make a stand when it comes to depriving themselves of their Gucci accoutrements.

Yep. He should be telling his followers to drop by and browse, in their work clothes, by the hundreds or thousands, if he wants to have an effect.

 

[Kulindahr]

I guess the only real lesson here is that people who sell $350 belts are knob heads.
Always had an inkling that might be the case.

No, it's that racism is alive and well all across America.

 

[Kulindahr]

I find it ironic that the patrons of $350 belts are largely the successors of the plantation owners and other 1% that were the impetus of slavery in America in the first place.

That the legacy of that disaster should eventually flow down to a Black American wanting to join that class is a sad commentary on the lack of progress in the redistribution of wealth in the modern age.

"Land of Opportunity" shouldn't entail a common goal of becoming aristocrats, but of there being enough for all, which there manifestly is. Instead, the mercantile culture in America and elsewhere continues to churn out class snobbery, and the notion that there could possibly be a belt worth $350, or that one could possibly be desirable.

No argument at all that the man should not be allowed to be just as elitist and foolish as the next customer, but the whole scenario betrays a great lack of wisdom. He was wronged, to be sure, but it was while he was on a fool's errand. The sellers, buyers, marketers, and would-be buyers, are all knob-heads.

Part of the problem is that somewhere along the line the narrative of "The American Dream" was quietly changed from being able to pursue your own course and seek your own success in an environment of freedom, to getting rich and being able to deny other people freedom.

 

[Kabluey]

^ hey, not to mention missed opportunities for black people working within barneys, and those who for no apparent reason didn't get the job.
Chances are the shoppers' treatment is indicative of internal attitudes towards staff.

 

[xbuzzerx]

Nor would I, nor did I, suggest it was equal, only that profiling is rampant in these snob stores. Blacks are only more victimized.

But, my point remains, it is hardly the issue that the majority of people are facing, including Black Americans. Where I and they shop, in everyday retail America, the merchants are happy to get their dollars too.

If it is a Rodeo Dr. or 5th Avenue type of problem, I'm gonna save my tears for someone who is hurt, not slighted. He has plenty of recourse now that the cops pulled a bone-headed arrest, so he's going to be handsomely repaid for his unfair degradation.

I'm more concerned about the kid who didn't get the grocery clerk job because some manager didn't want a black working the front register. That's where more damage is being done, not in Barney's.

I don't disagree, but the causes behind the two situations are the same, so you're doing the cause you claim to support a disservice by attempting to belittle its effect or importance in one situation simply because you can imagine another where the harm done is worse.

 

[pat grimshaw]

When are we going to get some more news about this case?

How can we keep up our sense of anger and outrage if we don't have some new facts to feed our needs?