I'm a reseller and have been full time for a little over a year. I am a black male and have been experiencing the highest amount of racial prejudice and profiling that I've ever experienced in my life visiting the retail establishments I frequent. Yesterday was no different.
I usually scour the entire store looking for profit and start in one corner and make my way around. By the time I got to the cosmetics section no the right side, it was clear I was being closely watched as employees were always present near me no matter where I went. I started secretly taking pics and vids of them. As I was filling my cart near the front of the store, a white man, about 6'3" 245 arrived next to my cart, put his hand on it, as if to ascertain who it belonged to. Of course, he knew it was mine, thus the reason he was there in the first place. I immediately surmised he was security. There is no other reason he would have made contact. I obliged that it was indeed my cart. At that point it was clear what was happening and right on queue, he went towards the door, went outside, faced the store and acted like he was taking a phone call. Too easy.
I continued shopping for a few minutes and he then stepped inside (it was raining and cold outside). He then stood at the entrance to guard it from me running out, obviously. Check the vid I took. After he played his hand (they dont realize they are dealing with an educated business owner) I confronted him directly and asked, "Do you work here?" He replied, yes. I said, "First of all, you couldn't stop me if you tried." Hey, I'm an ex athlete, what can I say. I needed to level set him. Then I walked back over to the area I was in and held up my TJMaxx Mastercard for him to see. Right on queue, he disappeared. After a few mins I asked an associate to get the head manager for me. Turns out, to my dismay, it was him. I declined speaking to him. These managers set the culture.
When I got to the register I asked for him again, specifically so he could see how my money I was spending. This day it was $1087. As he arrived I informed him on said intention. He stated he didn't know what I was talking about and he would never do that. What an insult to my intelligence. These people follow the same behavior store to store to store so it's easily identifiable as I've been doing this for 3 years.
IF YOU ARE BLACK - I ASK YOU TO BOYCOTT THIS STORE. WE NEED TO TEACH THESE PEOPLE A LESSON. Ya'll will not believe the crap I've dealt with from these people, ESPECIALLY in the Valley. I'm going online with my photos and pics - I'm tired of this. No more being diplomatic. BOYCOTT BLACK PEOPLE!!! BOOOOYYYCCOOOTTT!!!
Up until a recent situation, where a woman manager in another store literally came into the restroom I was using while I was defecating, and told me to leave because, "other people are waiting," I would never go online and post this stuff. I try to be a man of love, understanding, and compassion, but I cannot do this anymore. I am putting all these people on blast. They always want to make it seem like we are imagining racism. Check my profile. You'll see what I go through moving forward.
