Hey, the kid is walking around in a hoodie while being blatantly African American, what did he expect?
You know as a white guy. born and raised in Alaska, just about the whitest place on earth, I have NEVER experienced anything like this, and seeing it kind of makes my heart ache.
I think the kids handled it just right, and actually maintained a pretty positive and humorous attitude.
I would be interested in what Publix has to say about their policies after seeing this on the internet.
It's the old WWBWWAH or as we like to call it "walking while black while wearing a hoodie".
ReplyDeleteBut... he didn't have the hoodie over his head which is what I would expect of someone up to no-good, trying to hide their appearance. The way he was dressed, I would decide he's just another average teen.
ReplyDeleteThe white guy isn't very good at surveillance considering there is no way he couldn't see they were recording him.
Even if he had his hoodie over his head does not mean he is up to no good. I see people of ALL races with their hoods over their heads. INCLUDING ME.
DeleteYou need to grow dark brown or black hair, wear jeans and a ski jacket and walk into Carrs or Safeway or Nordstrom's or Fred Meyers and see how long it takes for someone to start stocking near you.
ReplyDeleteIf you care to try it as a female, then walk down the streets of Fairbanks and see what your presence elicits. I thought all white men hollered at women out of their cars until I moved to Chicago and then New York City.
I'm black and I go to Nordstroms all the time, but has never been stalked there (SO FAR)....LOL... BUT I did get stalked in JC Penney one time.
DeleteMy friends and I used to go into stores three or four at a time together.
ReplyDeleteTwo of us would go off together ( African Americans) and my white and Korean friend would go together. Guess who was ALWAYS followed. We used to make a game of it and make them run after us. Once a woman got so close she almost tripped me. I screamed for security and accused her of trying to snatch my purse. I've never seen anyone's face turn that red.
Its called living in America while black. Laugh. Sue their asses or never go into another store for the rest of your life.
Those 2 Gang Members of the Colony Girls, Bristol and Willow wear Hoodies. Are they watched while in Piggly Wiggly's? Maybe Anchorage P.D. should keep their eyes on Todd Pimp Daddy Palin. The F.E.C. should be watching Sarah Palin's activities.
ReplyDeleteI would have turned that camera around by the 5th or 6th corner and forced a confrontation. But what do I know? I'm a half Cuban who looks completely white.
ReplyDeleteIf you listen to the audio, he'd already done that. Said he asked the guy why he was following them and his answer was "it's public property, I can go wherever I want". After that, I'm sure the guy wasn't trying very hard to not be noticed anymore. Although, I thought everything was covered with cameras any more. Not sure why you need a tie dude stalking people.
DeleteNot sure this is as much about race as it is about being a teenager. But who knows, the racists *do* seem to be getting bolder these days.
I'm amazed at the maturity and good sense this young man showed, despite being blatantly followed simply because he was a black teen.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he had every right to become angry, he maintained his sense of humor and refused to respond in a negative way. Good for him and shame on that manager.
I'm black and it happened to me, I just said to myself, silly bitch, (referring to the woman who was watching me), and I continued my shopping.
Delete(Snark alert)
ReplyDeleteWell, now, here we have a couple of teenagers brazenly flaunting comfortable, practical, inexpensive clothing that is popular with their peers, unlike rill Amurkin teens, who would never do such a thing.
They combine this obviously suspect behavior with choosing tasty, delicious snacks devoid of nutritional value and enjoyed by many people across the country! What all-American adolescent would ever do such a thing?
Easy for me to snark. I have never had to worry that my children, wearing similar clothing and choosing similar snacks while enjoying time with their friends, might end up in a deadly confrontation for doing something so ordinary.
Well said Nefer, as usual.
DeleteI'll probably get trounced for this. I am fully aware that black teens and blacks in general, are treated far differently in this country. It saddens and disgusts me. But I have to say as a former store owner, I have been ripped off frequently by teens. Teens of every color. It made me more than a little nervous when they came into my store, especially in groups.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see this experiment done with blacks of every age, I think it would make a better statement as to how they are treated in our society. Too many people just don't see this happening in everyday settings, and fail to believe that racism happens on a daily basis, right under their noses.
It's disgusting.
I think we have "all" become much more aware of the racism that horribly occurs in the USA since President Obama was elected to the highest office in the land! It's gotten worse and is more and more blatant.
DeleteIt sickens me! Why do the majority of them seem to be Republicans? Remember, their members started the KKK all those years ago!
Just because you have been ripped off by teens, does not give you the right to assume any teen in your store is a thief. That is wrong thinking.
DeleteRemember adults can steal from you too.
12:46 - you have no idea what you are talking about.
Deletestore owners/managers/employees have every right to protect their property from being stolen- and they do usually know who the rip-offers are. and it is not just teens or black teens they are following around.
1:33
DeleteJust like Zimmerman had every right to harass, assault and ultimately kill a pedestrian in his neighborhood. . .store owners/managers/employees have every right to STAND.THEIR.GROUND!
You are a whack job 1:33 - you are on the wrong board.
I have black friends and I'm the one that wears the hoodies once it's fall and winter - and, I'm white! I've never noticed anyway follow or observe me while shopping!
ReplyDeleteThe manager of that store is 'observing' horribly...it's so blatant and racist in my opinion. I'd do something to confront him and never shop in his place again. Carrs/Safeway prices are so horribly high compared to other stores (check it out folks!) that it's more than easy to shop elsewhere!
If the kid DID confront the store manager, using the same even-keeled good humored attitude he did during the video, the store manager probably would have called store security to frogmarch the kid outside bypassing the check-out counter, then accused him of stealing the items the kid had picked out to purchase.
DeleteVoila! Arrest, conviction, criminal record. And probably no job thereafter. Thanks, suspicious racist white guy!
That is just fucked up..
ReplyDeleteDisgusting, and the racist was so blatantly obvious about it. I hope he gets called out on this. Any idea of the location?
ReplyDeleteI've been shopping at Publix ever since I moved to South Florida in the early 70s. Never noticed anything like this. Color me totally clueless!
DeleteI'm white, but grew up in a poor area which was a predominantly Black neighborhood. When I went to Woolworths (decades ago) I would get followed as a teen, much like in this video. When I was an adult and went to a store like the Bon Marche, the salespeople would be attempting to peer into my dressing room (pretending that they wanted to assist me, and offering to get other sizes), they were really creepy, peering over the changing room door. I've never stolen, don't have a police record, was a "goodie, goodie", but this treatment really soured me against people who have more than me. In fact my white friends (who I never shopped with) did brag about all the clothes they stole - but nobody ever thought they were the type.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what murderer Zimmerman did to Trayvon Martin, then shot him dead, and an incompetent jury acquitted the damn murderer.
ReplyDeleteZimmerman profiled and stalked Trayvon, just like this. So I guess if this is in Florida that man could shoot those kids and then a jury would call it self defense.
This shit makes my blood boil.
The video was uploaded on Mar 6, 2011, almost a year before Trayvon Martin was murdered.
ReplyDeleteSo that kind of harassment is certainly not a RESULT of a George-Zimmerman kind of attitude -- rather, it escalated up to the Martin/Zimmerman confrontation.
For Trayvon, walking home in a dark rainy evening, it would have been very difficult to maintain the equanimity that this teen did in a well-lit well-populated public supermarket.
Something similar happened to me and my mother (white) in Puerto Rico during the early 1960s. We went to a civilian doctor off base (dad was in the military), so we were well dressed as one did in those days to go to the doctor (no hoodies). Mother decided to do some shopping in a local store afterwards and the clerk (Puerto Rican) followed us around closely, fluffing and rearranging merchandise. Mother was beyond angry, stating as we left without buying anything, "I've never been so insulted in all my life."
ReplyDeleteScrew you 1:33 - You have no idea where I've come from or what I've seen and experienced! I ran a business for years before retirement and never stalked like the guy did in the photo. White folks are just as bad as other races....they lie, cheat and steal too!
ReplyDeleteFrom 12:46!
ok guy. i wasnt referring to the video which i hadnt even watched at that point. if you had used your brain - you would have realized i was replying just to your post and stating the obvious, that stores have a right and a responsibility to protect their merchandise. if you had also read my post correctly- you would have read that i already agreed that it is not just black teens or teens at all that steal.
Deletelets move on- i watched the video. i think, and its more than just think, i'm pretty sure this had nothing to do with the fact that these guys were black, and probably not even so much that this guy following them assumed they were going to steal something, than the fact that they were in a (private) store goofing around with a video camera and acting like attention seeking teens. i had a similar situation in a lilly white suburb of chicago when i was a (white) teen goofing around with friends in a grocery store with a video camera years ago. but that store manager likely had enough of our teenage stupidity and didnt want to waste more time following us around and finally did kick us out. looking back on it, who can blame him- these people have enough to deal with all day long at a store, why should they have to babysit teenagers.
these kids went into a store, wandering around acting weird with a camera looking to setup a goofy white guy so they could label him a rascist.
finally- i encourage all the people who think this kid is the victim of racism to click on the you tube link and see the 8 videos this kid has posted to you tube including the 'white boys' video game post. hes looking for attention and hes a teenager, or was anyways- as it appears these are all from 2011 including the store. so basically youve all been punked by a 2-3 year old video which im sure this kid doesnt even care about anymore since he hasnt posted in 2 years.
Anon 9:38 (and 10:10)
DeleteOh, you again. Your willingness to criminalize "attention-seeking" is about as crass and heartless as saying a woman deserves to be raped because she was asking for it. I fail to see how these boys, who seem nice and not at all threatening, deserve to be on your watch list.
Back in the dark ages (before cell phones), I worked in retail and if any of my employees did this, they were fired on the spot. We had security cameras and closed circuit monitors watching EVERYONE. Ironically, most of the "shrinkage" came from employees putting merchandise in shop vacs and trash bags, out the loading dock to a friend's car next to the dumpsters.
ReplyDeleteI have to give the two teens a lot of credit, they handled themselves with grace and had a sense of humor, despite how this made them feel.
He needs to send that to Publix corporate in Lakeland, and then get an attorney
ReplyDeleteget an attorney for what exactly? goofing around on private property. stores have a relationship and obligation to their valued customers- they have no obligation to a couple of attention seeking teens who's sole purpose of being there is to goof around and set the store up to appear racist(by the way the video is 2 yrs old). the only thing racist about this video is them calling the white guy a racist. i call bull. that guy was babysitting youth in his store. hopefully they do have an attorney call the store so the store can inform the attorney that their client is barred from their property, and will be trespassing if he steps foot in publix again.
DeleteEven if the boys are goofing, what makes their activity a ban-able offense? You racist apologist.
DeleteSadly, this is not a recent "reality" for countless people of color (both men and women) in numerous establishments.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, this is kinda cool!
ReplyDeleteWilliam Lowell Putnam III told the Arizona Daily Sun he would like to bestow Martin’s name upon one of the hundreds of asteroids discovered by the Lowell observatory in 2000. This is what the proposed citation for 2000 TM61 reads:
“Named in memory of Trayvon Martin (1995-2012), a student at Dr. Michael M. Krop High School in Miami, Florida. Unarmed, he was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, during an altercation with the neighborhood watch coordinator.”
This is not the first time Putnam has pushed for the asteroid name. The Minor Planet Center rejected the “premature” submission when it was first brought to their attention last year, but now that George Zimmerman‘s trial has ended, he is trying again.
Putnam said he wanted to find some way he could honor Martin’s legacy.
“As I see it, the social fairness showed to Trayvon Martin was very sadly lacking,” he said. “Inasmuch as I am the sole trustee of an institution which has some naming privileges, I want to do my share to see that this lad is remembered in an appropriate manner.”
http://www.mediaite.com/online/they-want-to-name-what-after-trayvon-martin/
Zimmerman and the media pulled a Palin by putting it out there that he was acting in some sort of community capacity - there was no neighborhood watch in cooperation with the community, he was NOTHING but a racist busy-body who liked to hassle people within his radius. He's as much a neighborhood watch coordinator as Palin was an expert in Energy.
DeleteIt's horrible. I feel for the teenagers. In their own country ! It's shameful.
ReplyDelete