Shopping While Black

[Checkmite]

Oh, I cared. Still do. But I would think that considering yourself to be somehow isolated from the mistakes of others to be unreasonable, yes.

It's not a matter of considering yourself isolated; it's a matter of holding people responsible for those mistakes when they're harmful to others.

If a cop questions you because you match the description of a suspected criminal, can you ignore him, proclaiming that your asserted innocence is sufficient?

That wouldn't constitute a mistake unless the questioned person doesn't actually fit the description in any way. But no; you can't ignore police officers, because they have authority to detain. These women did not ignore the police officer(s) who questioned them; they cooperated. The situation is now over, and the focus has moved on to justice - seeking consequences for the mistake that was made.

Please consider CORed's anecdote again. Questioned by a hostile, suspicious worker. CORed realized what the misconception was and made a small effort to clear it up quickly. Worker apologized for her mistake. Done and done.

I noted all those details the first time I considered the anecdote; I'm not sure what a reexamination is supposed to have accomplished aside from wasting my time.

Why should this be so an unreasonable way of handling such a situation?

I don't recall anyone criticizing that response as unreasonable, or casting it in any other negative or disapproving light, so I'm not sure why it's actually relevant. Unless you intend to suggest that if the women who were accused of shoplifting just hadn't been so uppity about it the situation wouldn't have happened the way it did.

 

[Thermal]

It's not a matter of considering yourself isolated; it's a matter of holding people responsible for those mistakes when they're harmful to others.

That wouldn't constitute a mistake unless the questioned person doesn't actually fit the description in any way. But no; you can't ignore police officers, because they have authority to detain. These women did not ignore the police officer(s) who questioned them; they cooperated. The situation is now over, and the focus has moved on to justice - seeking consequences for the mistake that was made.

Yeah, about the hilited...there's this thing called shopkeeper's privilege. A retail worker can legally detain a suspected shoplifter, and is generally immune from liability even if the suspect is found innocent of wrongdoing. Of course, this is as long as there was reasonable suspicion that a theft was made or in progress. You have made it clear that you do not believe there was reasonable suspicion. As I don't think you will be reasoned away from your belief, might as well wait for the inevitable litigation to resolve that point.

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-york/2017/gbs/article-12-b/218/

I noted all those details the first time I considered the anecdote; I'm not sure what a reexamination is supposed to have accomplished aside from wasting my time.

You ridiculed the idea of a polite resolution to an accusation. Strawmanned it, even. I thought perhaps you didn't see the relevance in COred's tale. Perhaps you dismissed it out of hand, as you did any chance of the boutique clerk's thinking there was another dress?

I don't recall anyone criticizing that response as unreasonable, or casting it in any other negative or disapproving light, so I'm not sure why it's actually relevant. Unless you intend to suggest that if the women who were accused of shoplifting just hadn't been so uppity about it the situation wouldn't have happened the way it did.

Well, you very clearly mocked the idea, complete with feigned straw dialog. Is mocking a negative or disapproving light? I would think so. But you don't. OK.

 

[The Big Dog]

"Shopping" while black

The story from Water Tower Place

Hey, that one guy got himself a sweet pair of sneaks!

 

[Checkmite]

Well, you very clearly mocked the idea, complete with feigned straw dialog. Is mocking a negative or disapproving light? I would think so. But you don't. OK.

To be clear: what I was mocking was the implication that it would've made a difference in this case - the victim-blaming notion that it was the customers' taking vocal offense to being accused of thievery rather than the store employees' baseless and incorrect confidence that they were thieves, that is the cause of how the situation ended up playing out.