This past week Barney's in New York has been accused of racial profiling. A young man (19) came in to buy a $300+ belt and the young lady behind the counter thought the credit card used was stolen and so she called the authorities. Turns out the kid saved up his money (approximately $350) to buy the Ferragamo belt and the credit card belonged to him. He is now suing everyone and their mother!! You can read the story right here.
I am going to share many different views and angles in this blog so stay with me:
Lady behind the counter: It is no secret a place like Barney's has been accused of racial profiling many times in the past but it is also fair to say a place like Barney's experiences a lot of credit card fraud and theft. As a high-end retailer, it is important that they maintain their bottom line! If you have ever worked in retail, it is important to recognize or "profile" customers for their own safety and the safety of the store. From her perspective, a 19-year old is buying a $350 belt...that comes off a little strange. Why is a teenager attempting to buy a belt that men who have jobs can barely afford? Why would a teenager want to spend all of his money on a belt??
Maybe she asked these questions and more to herself and deduced that there has to be something wrong; he must be using someone else's money and/or credit card. Interesting enough and as strange as it sounds, she is giving credence because her thought process is based on the assumption that a 19-year old would not buy a $300+ belt.
The Young Man Profiled: The story says the young man (essentially a teenager), a college student, worked to save up $350 for this belt; I have no problem with any young person saving up their hard earn money to buy whatever they want to buy. But that is not the point! A very fitting quote for this teenager's actions: "No 14-year old boy should have a $95 shirt unless he is on stage with his 4 brothers!" This coming from the infamous Gordon Gartrelle episode of the Cosby Show.
Why not simply put that money in a savings account for a "rainy" day? Why not invest your money in the myriad of opportunities being presented by the new phenomenon of crowd-funding? Why not re-invest in yourself and your own idea to change the world??
A friend of mine came back from a pilgrimage to the Silicon Valley, home of start-ups like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other big companies like Amazon, Ebay, Apple, and Microsoft. He said that when talking to the employees of these companies, it was not a question of "if we can change the world", it was a question of "when and how we will change the world." In that part of the country, nothing was impossible because they had already created what was not even fathomable 10 years ago. Their community, that culture, strives on innovation and creation which is why they have changed the world! Imagine being around people who are always pushing you to come up with and implement ideas that can CHANGE THE WORLD??? I am sorry but it seems people have created more with less than $350.
From an article written by Nicole Kenney of the NAACP: "We must stop the massive "leakage" of our money out of our communities. Currently a dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month, in Jewish communities approximately 20 days and white communities 17 days. Black community, 6 hours!" African-American buying power is at 1.1 Trillion; and yet only 2 cents of every dollar an AA spends in this country goes to black owned businesses."
Now I know I am going to hear about how our businesses lack good customer service, blah blah blah, but it is up to us, it is our duty, to not only support Black businesses but to help correct the wrongs we see with the business. I have been to all types of businesses that have poor customer service so that is not an excuse to not support our own. This sentiment is very important because it takes me to my next point...
Gentrification: We are all seeing a massive overhaul of our Nation's urban dwellings; it is happening across the country from LA to Chicago, Washington DC to Brooklyn where urban dwellers from 10 years ago are being "displaced" and "replaced" by a younger, wealthier demographic. How does this happen? From an article written by Dave Roos:
There is no definitive answer, but experts agree that before an area can be gentrified, it must go through a period of disinvestment, during which older buildings are left to languish, median income levels decline steadily and businesses move out [source: Slater]. Some neighborhoods still maintain a vibrant social culture and sense of community, while others devolve into urban wastelands.
Then the "urban pioneers" arrive. Urban pioneers are usually young, educated, adventurous, predominately white, often artistically minded individuals who don't fit the traditional demographic of the neighborhood. They build artist lofts in abandoned industrial spaces, open underground music venues and begin to leave the imprint of their alternative tastes and bohemian lifestyle on the neighborhood [source: Hampson].
Once a few pioneers have staked their claim, the neighborhood begins to earn a new reputation in the minds of real-estate developers and upper middle-class folks who used to consider the area unsafe or unwelcoming. As home prices increase in the nicer parts of the city and the suburbs, more adventurous investors are attracted to the character of some of the buildings in the neighborhood (crumbling Victorian mansions, stately brownstones with stoops) and their low sales prices [source: Hampson]. They begin to snatch up bargain properties and make attractive, modern renovations. Developers follow suit, buying up old apartment buildings and converting them into luxury condos.
For a short period of time, there is an uneasy balance in the neighborhood. Long-time residents are nervous about the infusion of outsiders, but admit that the new playground makes the park a lot safer for the kids and all of the new restaurants and construction work mean better-paying jobs. But then the lease expires on the apartment and the new landlord wants to raise the rent by 50 percent. Long-time homeowners have sold off and left town and rumors abound that some developer bought five apartment buildings on one block and evicted everyone. And then the inevitable happens -- the first Starbucks opens.
I have seen this first hand living in Washington DC. My friends and I laugh because there are "indicators" that show the process starting in a certain neighborhood:
1. New pavement for the streets and sidewalks
2. White people walking their dog or jogging in the early morning or evening
3. Starbucks opens on the corner
I laugh but it hurts because this is serious. This gentrification process leaves a lot of people that look like me without a home and sometimes a city without an identity. I spoke earlier about how money stays in our community for only 6 hours. Well, that's the "disinvestment" that starts the gentrification process. If we are not spending money in our own neighborhoods, how can you renew older buildings? How can businesses pay their employees and maintain median income levels? How can you prevent businesses from shutting down or moving out? Bottom line, if you do not spend money in your own neighborhood, someone else will spend their money in YOUR neighborhood and start demanding that YOUR neighborhood change.
Ever heard of Chinatown? Sure you have because they exist in cities like DC, NY, and San Francisco. What about Little Italy? New York. Little Cuba? I think I even know of a Little Haiti? Anyone ever heard of "Little African-American" or "Blacktown"? Yea, I have not also!
Is it a stretch that I took a teenager who spent $350 on a belt and was profiled for it to the gentrification of our neighborhoods? Should I have focused on the profiling instead like many of us have?
Anytime anything "happens" to me, I always take the time to look at myself first and make sure that I am doing the best I can to be the best I know I can be. That includes understanding AND challenging not only myself but others about how we think. Was it wrong that this kid was profiled? ABSOLUTELY!!!
I am 35 and right now when I take a look at my spending habits, the only dollars I know I consistently spend at Black businesses is the Black Barbershop (Shout out to Changing Faces) I go to every week where I spend a mere $20. I am part of the problem because I did not understand the concepts presented at an early age which is why I am "programmed" a certain way now. I am trying to de-program myself so I can do better. This includes educating and creating forums to talk about how we think, what we do, and how we can change. I am not worry about who is watching because we have been laughed at for so long, we just do not know it.
