Starbucks, LA Fitness, Chevron Gas and Food Mart… Nordstrom Rack is one of the latest in a rash of corporations to publicly get called out for racially profiling black customers.
Three young black men were shopping for prom clothes at Nordstrom Rack in Brentwood, Missouri, when an employee called the police, accusing the men of shoplifting. When the cops approached them, the men showed the cops receipts for what they had bought, and the cops let them go. Now the president of Nordstrom Rack, President Geevy Thomas, has asked to meet with the boys and the company has made a public apology. Deja vu.
According to KMOV.com:
Mekhi Lee, Dirone Taylor and Eric Rogers II were all shopping for prom clothes at Nordstrom Rack when they started noticing several of the employees watching them and following them around the store.
"I was nervous the whole time," said Lee, "Every time we move, they move. when we looked up, they looked up."
After all three left the store they were surrounded by Brentwood Police in the parking lot. Police told them the store had accused them of theft. After an investigation on the spot, police let the three go without charges.
"The police were actually good. They understood where we were coming from and they showed us that they were just doing their job," said Rogers.
In addition to the theft accusations, the teens said a customer in the store called them punks and asked them, 'Are your parents proud of you for what you do?' In defending themselves, the three say an altercation broke out between them and the customer, at which time store management stepped in.
"I knew it was coming, but at the same time I was feeling embarrassed, agitated, mixed emotions with the whole situation because I know we didn't deserve it," said Taylor.
The NAACP wants to work with Nordstrom Rack's president to come up with strategies in how to handle this with the store's employlees and says "it needs to have some measurable outcomes."
Image: JJBers/Flickr
