As the holiday time approaches, increased spending and gift giving takes over pretty much from Black Friday (yesterday) to Christmas Eve.
Yesterday was Black Friday and like many other American shoppers, I wanted the best deals. My mother is an avid fan and cultural follower of the luxury Coach handbags. I decided to postpone her trip to Paisley Park for her birthday in January (less than a month after Xmas) and gift her with a new leather handbag instead :)
However, I live in Chicago and call me high-class but I want a Coach purse from the Coach store. Luckily, I live in one of the greatest cities in the world so there are literally three Coach stores in our iconic Mag Mile to choose from. Long story short, I went in and of course it is SUPER crowded but to be expected. Im dressed in an oversized down coat, sweats, sneakers, and a wool hat (I look like a fat marshmallow)
Every single person (minus a few foreign tourists) were white in the store. Associates greeted and spoke to every single customer BUT me. I am literally browsing around the store for a good 15 minutes- during that time several associates and security personnel either see me or don't acknowledge me or avoid me. I got freaking frustrated.
I finally find a sale associate and she is very curt with me with a snippy attitude. Chanel from South side Chicago would snap back but I'm on Michigan Ave as the only Black woman in this store. I need to act appropriately. So I smile and ask for the manager. The GM was present and I voiced my experience and concern and how I felt singles out as the only person of color.
Needless to say I received a $600 handbag for $200 :)
The point is, I didn't LOOK like I had money and while I don't like playing "the race card", as the only African-American consumer there (the security were tall, burly Black men. Go figure ) I couldn't help but feel dismissed. The sales associate even dismissed me and have me a snippy attitude when I politely just asked if I could see a handbag from the top shelf. I own like eight Coach bags and shop frequently with the brand. However the actual storefronts of these high end designer labels are very judgemental and I sometimes hate going in because they immediately categorize me as either a theif, window shopper, or a low baller.
This experience is nothing new to me but it reinforces me to not allow my subconscious attitudes towards others dictate how I treat them; especially my students who are of a different background than me. There are many signals and messages about people of different communities that are both negative and positive. It is solely up to us to decipher what we internalize and how that ammends out behavior.
Chanel,
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad that we as African Americans can not shop in high class stores or neighborhoods without being watched as if we are two year olds ready to be destructive. This is what society has begun within the last year because Washington has made it this way. Now Americans have become more vocal about their views and are not afraid to show it. These brings back my experience with microaggression when traveling for my job. Me and two other coworkers were residing in a town called St. Simons Island, GA and everywhere we went there were looks and stares, as if we did not belong. This made us all feel uncomfortable, and possibly not travel for the job again, because it was a voluntarily trip.
Chanel,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that happened to you. I love Coach and currently have one of their handbags. I know what you mean when you say the sales associates are snobby and look at you like you do not belong in their store. I am white but I have also felt like they look at me like I do not belong in there because I am not dressed the part. Usually when I am shopping at the mall, I am in sweats looking like a hot mess because it is the weekend. haha The Julia Roberts scene from Pretty Woman is popping in to my head right now when she goes shopping in a high end store but is dressed in skimpy clothes. The sale woman says "I don't think we have anything for you, please leave!". Check out that scene in the movie, if you have never seen it. Great post, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Jennifer
That is so sad and why hence a lot of us, at least me, are okay with going to but a cute bag from somewhere like walmart. Every shopper that enters a store should in the least bit be greeted in my opinion. I hope that this experience is not he true face of coach that they can't speak to you because of your relaxed wear and color of your skin. I enjoyed reading your post and hope that next time you go shopping for one of you loved coach bags you will not encounter anything such as the horror you did on this past black friday!
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