A newly released study finds the majority of Black shoppers say they’ve been racially profiled in a retail setting at least once, reports WSB-TV (Atlanta).
The report, released by the website dealaid.org, questioned more than 1,000 shoppers who identify as being Black or African-Americans, and 90 percent of those who responded said they had experienced retail racism.
“There have been times where I felt a little uneasy,” Ashley Harris, a Black woman who lives in Chamblee, told Channel 2′s Mike Petchenik. “It’s very disheartening to see that, you know, that’s still happening. You think that, you know, we’ve come to a place where we shouldn’t be at this point anymore. But it’s, it’s believable.”
The founder of dealaid.org told Petchenik the findings were staggering to him.
“The folks that experienced these microaggressions had everything from being followed around a store to being told to go to a sale section, even though they weren’t looking for it,” said Serg Rudak.
“Now we’re being more proactive,” he said. “Now virtually all the companies have not only a diversity officer in management, but a diversity budget dedicated to solving the problem and to really understanding what it means to have inclusion and equity.”
Buck said that includes conscious and unconscious bias training for all workers at every level.
“You gain not only diversity, but understanding,” he said. And I think, yes, that affects the bottom line.”
