Racial Profiling
It happened to me yesterday, and it has happened before, but it's always disconcerting.
For reasons I really don't want to get into, I had some time to kill while going through some tests at the doctor's office (don't worry, nothing serious). My doctor's office is on East 60th and Madison Ave., so there is some great shopping in the area, and I decided to take advantage of it.
I walked casually into Calvin Klein and thought I could at least look at shoes and accessories. The security guard welcomed me and I proceeded to browse, but he followed me around and made me very uncomfortable. Then, after I had been looking for a few minutes, he asked me if there was anything I was looking for. That's not his job, right? He's not the sales person. So, I told him I was just looking at shoes because that's the only thing that would fit me right now. I was trying to be causal and funny, but he kept following me. I couldn't take it for much longer, so I walked out of the store.
So, is that racial profiling? It sure felt like it. I am a little browner now from our trip to Puerto Rico, and Eric told me that security guards are trained to look at pregnant women more suspiciously because some women want to appear pregnant just so they can stuff things under their shirt.
Anyway, I hated feeling like I didn't belong in a store - whatever the reason. Maybe I just didn't look posh enough.
4 Comments:
It seems to me that they followed you around because you're pregnant. Like Eric said, some thieves disguise themselves as pregnant women so they can hide merchandise.
They should know better than to follow anyone based on the way they're dressed. I hope it wasn't a race issue (maybe I should walk in there and see what happens).
True, but they're also trained to be suspicious of minorities. So, I guess I had two strikes against me.
Maybe we should go in together and see what happens.
Hey, let ME go in there with a baby bump and see what happens. That should tell us something. Ha ha! ;->
Sorry this happened to you, Deej. What was his ethnicity, btw?
About six months ago we were at our favorite bar (mixed crowd, gay owned). A patron (who was kicked out immediately) made an anti-gay slur and I couldn't believe how I felt. I am a fairly emotionless 35-year-old these days but I found myself practically sucking wind in the bathroom.
I think I've found my groove, meaning that I don't go places where I might get "hit." (No rural Louisiana for me!) So my defenses are down and when I get hit with the experience, it's a surprise.
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