Black Teen Sues over Arrest after Buying an Expensive Belt

Similar thing happened to me in houston a few weeks ago. I'm not a minority but I was dressed down a little and pottery barn had me handcuffed and detained (extremely aggressively and inappropriately) simply for walking in their store. They told the cops I was a shoplifter and was working with a gang

Obviously none of that was true, we forced pottery barn to fire all employees involved in the incident and are in negotiations for compensation from both pottery barn and the HPD

 

I manage a few coffee shops and took an employee out for her birthday yesterday. She makes about $12 an hour. About 25 years old. So I ask her what her husband is buying her for the birthday. She says not what she wants. I ask what that is. She says a Gucci/Versace/whatever purse. I asked her how much it was and she says $1700.

My first reaction is wtf...She says she is sure my wife has many purses like those. I tell her all my wife's purses combined probably don't add up to $1000. She says she has 3-4 expensive purses.

I just can't believe people making as much as her would spend that much on something so frivolous.

/rant

 

I think it's best we all make judgments about how other people spend their money without knowing all the facts of their situations as if it would be better to judge if we did know everything about their situation.

The more we can excuse racial profiling and harrassment from what happened in the OP by casting aspersions on the victim because we think we know all we need to bash their own spending habits.

 

It's just a side conversation based on notable reported facts, so far nobody's trivializing the claims. Incidentally not knowing all the facts would justify assumptions of either criminal guilt or innocence on the part of the citizen.

 

Assuming she doesn't have a $1,700 laptop, TV or jewerly I really don't see any issue here. Judging the purchases of low wage earners seems like back door classism.

 

That is exactly what it is.

 

/thread

 

You tried to hit, didn't you? :grin:

 

I don't see why its a problem that the kid is buying a 350 dollar belt. Hell jackass college kids in NYC blow almost 100 bucks per night at bars, this kid saved up disposable income to buy something tangible.

Also the kid returned the belt after the incident, which shows a lot of self respect on his part. I can't believe the stupid cops thought he forged a debit card and receipt and actually called chase only to find the purchase was legit.

The kid deserves every ounce of that settlement money he will get.

 

Did he dress and act appropriately?

Pretty good chance they'd call the cops on you if you walked into a Coach store with your pants around your ass and barely washed Astro's jersey, regardless of your race.

 

I think people are misunderstanding what happened here. They suspected him of ID theft due to racial profiling. Called the cops and the cops picked up the kid. This is not right.

 

I think the overall point here is correct; but more so with people who are visibly homeless or destitute. I do think experienced retailers have sold to all different types of people and would probably go through the motions of asking to help them, trying to find out exactly what they want, mentioning the high end of their price range to suggest that the customer couldn't afford it, and then if none of those responses indicate an ability or likelihood to buy, ultimately asking them to leave. Retailers, even high-end restaurants and hotels, are often more anxious about passing up revenues than about letting in the wrong crowd.

 

They claim that they did not call the cops (the store, that is). It seems that NYPD plain clothed cops were INSIDE the store and racially profiled the shoppers themselves.

 

I am pizza delivery driver and my boss told me always check the persons credit card especially if it's a black person. You might think my boss is a racist but guess what, he had 2 charge backs this past year and both customers were black. Racial profiling might not always be flawless but still necessary.

Racial profiling = good thing

 

Alright, let's get this thread crackin!

 

Do you profile raccoons?

 

Did he give you any advice on hookers that look like raccoons?

 

I love my wife.

 

Wait...so you deliver pizzas and then blow off your pay on crackhead raccoons? LMAO! Wow! Didn't you pay like 300-400? Is that like two weeks pay?

 

but i has SEXy time