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“See, not even an Academy Award can stop a Black man from being criminalized…”
God almighty, if it’s not the police it’s shopkeepers shaking down The Scary Black Man. And apparently it doesn’t matter if you’re an Academy Award winning actor. Forest Whitaker was on the Upper East Side and deigned to step into Milano Market. NewsOne:
TMZ reports that Whitaker said he was falsely accused of lifting an item off the store’s shelf and subsequently frisked by an employee. An eyewitness told the entertainment site that the Academy Award winner was frisked in plain view of everyone.
Of course, the shake down produced nothing belonging to the store and Whitaker left the establishment angry and embarrassed.
TMZ was told this by Whitaker’s rep:
“This was an upsetting incident given the fact that Forest did nothing more than walk into the deli. What is most unfortunate about this situation is the inappropriate way store employees are treating patrons of their establishment. Frisking individuals without proof/evidence is a violation of rights.”
“Forest did not call the authorities at the request of the worker who was in fear of losing his employment. Forest asked that, in the future, the store change their behavior and treat the public in a fair and just manner.”
I’m so tired of hearing how because institutionalized racism has largely been addressed in the courts, that somehow there is a social level playing field out there — I dare say that in most households of color, SOMEONE has had to deal with indignities of this kind. And I don’t have to imagine it either. While living in NYC, I was subject to “shopping while black” being followed in a store (even while dressed for the theatre), and “hailing for a cab while black.” And that was in the 80s. Not much has changed, I see.
I will say that I’ve never been profiled like that since moving back to my home state of NC in 1989. The hostility in NYC on all racial fronts was much more openly polarizing than it is here. It’s not non-existent in NC (hardly!), but the divide is more nuanced — generally the racism is coupled more tightly with socioeconomic status. In NYC it seems you’re guilty as charged regardless of class, it’s indiscriminate. Doesn’t make the former right, it just illustrates a difference worth noting.
And it’s two-for-two between myself and my brother. After the Trayvon Martin gundown, my brother had this experience while walking from his home to campus to teach his classes at the University of Delaware:
My brother and his family came for a visit over the weekend and we talked about the Trayvon Martin case. It led him to share a recent experience that he had that was both enraging and depressing. He’s 43, and a professor at UD. On a recent walk to campus, in jeans (no hoodie!) and a knapsack slung over his shoulder, he was stopped by a white woman and asked what he was doing there. In his own neighborhood. Naturally, he did nothing to inflame the situation (recalling, no doubt, the training our late mom gave him years ago), and went on his way, but what does that say about the woman who perceived him as an outsider — enough so to actually approach and challenge his very presence? Is the good news that she didn’t automatically dial 911? Hey, the KKK was doing recruiting door-to-door in his countyin 2011. It makes me sick because I know this is what young men (and apparently not-so-young) men of color face on a regular basis. Soul-draining.
UPDATE: Later on Saturday, employees at the store denied that the incident occurred.
A manager at the Upper East Side deli denied that the incident occurred, telling E! News, “nothing ever happened at this location yesterday” involving Whitaker.
Especially odd since the NY Daily News reported that an employee confirmed it did occur. So who’s fibbing, Whitaker and his rep, or the deli’s staff/management? Whitaker has zero to gain from this, but the deli, of course, has a lot to lose.
If you would like to politely contact Milano Market to ask it to clarify its treatment of the situation.
ADDRESS:
1582 Third Avenue,
(Corner of 89th & 3rd)
New York, NY 10128
GENERAL INQUIRIES:
Tel: 212.996.6681 OR 212.996.6686
info@milanomarketnyc.com
16 Comments
For the non-lawyer sitting in this chair it sounds to me like this is a case of illegal detention and harassment, if not assault.
If a store thinks someone stole from them they have a right to stop that person, but the evidence gathering needs to be done by police, not the store employees.
The deli manager is already trying to hide something, so they know they have a real lawsuit heading their way (rightfully so).
Does this store have any video to back up their “charges” against Mr. Whittaker? Not likely.
I think this deli is going to be facing a backlash from the community on this regrettable mistake.
This is outrageous. I love Forest Whitaker and am so sorry that he was subjected to this. I would really like for that person to lose his/her job.
Just another day in the life of a black man. These individual straws add up to black men dying early, one way or another.
I’m sorry this happened to Forest Whitaker, and hope the store owner will appologize for his employee’s behavior. Racists bigots are such bores! Thanks for publishing this article. It’s necessary to call a bully a bully. I’m proud that our country has such a rich mixture of people – its a great tradition. My grandmother was born in 1886 and she taught me that we are all pink on the inside and superficialities don’t matter very much.
I have 2 thoughts:
1. What the F is wrong with people?
2. The things so many people take for granted…
I’m not a complete stranger to discrimination, being overweight, gay and having a high pitched voice… but even for me, it’s hard to fathom ever going through anything like this, or being able to understand what it would do to someone going through it.
I’m really glad Forest Whitaker spoke out about this. Hopefully, at least some people will wake up — or get a fresh reminder — and realize the kind of discrimination that still exists and destroys lives in this country.
The store employee, maybe, just stuck on stupid. The neighbor lady, maybe, just stuck on stupid. The U.S.of A., no maybe about it, stuck on stupid. And, stupid translates as dangerous where I come from.
Thanks.
This was awful, but not a violation of rights. Our rights are against government, not store clerks.
Do we know anything about the clerk–age, length of experience, anything other than he mistakenly thought Whittaker had stolen something? Do we know why he mistakenly thought Whittaker had shoplifted something?
Obviously, the social playing field is not level, but I am not sure why we automatically assume that this happened solely because Whittaker is African American.
All kinds of people go into stores in Manhattan. I very much doubt that this clerk–whatever his origin, frisks every patron who is African American. Maybe this was racism or maybe it was a simple mistake.
Can’t we stop and think for a minute before we try to get this person fired in this economy or close down a neighborhood store whose owner was not involved in the incident?
I should clarify. The first line of my post refers only to Constitutional rights. Of course, we have rights against other individual for which we can sue or ask law enforcement to prosecute.
this was problaby done to get the sleazy rat bait deli some free advertising (ala the Winona Ryder effect)
Stupid is dangerous everywhere
When I was a cab driver on Long Island, NY, the dispatchers told us not to pick up young black men. I would get on the radio and tell them I was picking them up anyway.
To which they said, “then you’re responsible for the fare if they don’t pay you.”
So I picked up young black men, and sometimes I didn’t get paid and had to pay half the fare (the company’s take) to the company out of pocket, along with the gas, which we always paid for.
So there was definitely a prejudice against young black men. However, it was out of experience among the drivers who were getting stiffed on fares.
Of course, situations like the one I’m describing suck for young black men. This is a different situation than the one Pam outlines above. I’m just trowing it out there for comments from people who might have something helpful to say on such things.
If the events happened as reported, it’s alarming that people think store employees are entitled to frisk them. God knows the airline experience is doing a lot to acclimate people to this treatment.
Rapper 2Chainz was arrested in Maryland a few days ago for possession of drug paraphernalia (a grinder used to crush marijuana). He was on his way to perform at a college event when his van was stopped for speeding. The cops claimed to smell marijuana, but no drugs were found. However, the grinder and “trace amounts” of weed were found in a backpack belonging to 2Chainz.
That’s another example of America’s authoritarian, nanny state mentality coming down hard on a black man.
This all reminds me of a joke I heard long ago:
Q: What do they call a black Supreme Court justice in Mississippi?
A: Nigger.
An Academy Award doesn’t give him immunity, but having the innate dignity of a being a fellow human being should have precluded this situation.
One of those incidents where a cell phone video would have helped out. Cell phone cameras=good.
Wow, dude. Seriously? That you can say that out loud, in relative public, says a lot about you, let alone those who told you that joke.
You have the right to say it, to be sure, but when you do, you reveal much about yourself to the rest of us.
Relating it in that manner is just the same as just posting the joke.
notreallyliberal would be a better moniker for you.