The Racism of Barneys New York, Privatized NYPD and a Kid Named Trayon Christian

Trayon Christian

Trayon Christian

A few days ago 19-year-old Trayon Christian was arrested for buying a $300 designer belt..It was a belt he saw being worn by rapper Julez Santana in a video. Trayon who works a part-time job, saved up for 6 months to get enough money to purchase the belt.

A clerk inside a high-end retail store Barneys New York,  holding a George Zimmerman type mindset felt that Trayon was ‘suspicious‘ and that he ‘was up to no good‘ because he was purchasing such an expensive belt at such a young age. The clerk felt, Trayon was committing fraud and called the police after swiping the card.

Trayon did nothing wrong, and even worse, never knew he was under suspicion by the clerk. Within minutes plain clothes officers showed up and arrested Trayon accusing him of fraud, even after he showed his receipt and credit card. Police simply didn’t believe everything was on the up and up, handcuffed Trayon and took him to jail…

Folks reading this should stop for a minute a reflect. You make a purchase, have a receipt, use your own hard-earned money and you go to jail.. Here’s a few things here for folks to think about:

First, if you go to Barneys New York twitter page here’s the description for their store. They describe the type of person who they want to come to their store…

Screen Shot 2013-10-23 at 7.59.45 AM

One might conclude, that ‘the nice person’ and ‘work hard rule’ doesn’t apply to young Black men shopping in that store. Folks may wanna call Barneys New York and ask them to clarify their policies 1.888.222.7639, especially since the store is denying they did anything wrong. Ask them what will trigger a phone call to the cops after you make a purchase?

Wiz Khalifa was mistreated when he shopped at Barneys New York

Wiz Khalifa was mistreated when he shopped at Barneys New York

Second, folks should keep in mind this is not the first time Barneys New York has pulled this crap. This is the same store where clerks snubbed and followed rapper Wiz Khalifa around the even though he shelled out 16 thousand dollars for purchases. This happened 2 years ago. You can check out that story HERE.

This leads to the question as to whether or not celebrities and rappers who frequent the store or name check it in songs and videos will pull their support? We know that Jay Z is scheduled to partner up with Barneys New York, will this incident lead to him reconsidering?

Third, It’s remarkable how quickly police showed up to arrest this young man. They came in force and in plain clothes, noting the connection between Big Business and police who do their bidding…Trayon Christian was going to be seen in the wrong from jump when NYPD is working in concert with a big companies. Who are they really protecting and serving?

We saw this during Occupy Wall Street, when NYPD was privatized wound up working on behest of big banks who were being protested. This is a program called Paid Detail where officers in 2011 made 11 million dollars working for private companies. You can read about it HERE.  Meanwhile there are folks in other parts of the city who will have problems, call the police and they not show up.

Barneys New York CEO Mark Lee

Barneys New York CEO Mark Lee

Trayon was arrested and brought to jail and kept for several hours.. The police checked out his story by calling the bank and then let him go. Disgusted with his mistreatment he promptly returned the belt, got his money back and vowed never to shop there again. He is now suing both Barneys New York and NYPD. However, one wonders if they would’ve shown and made arrests if Trayon called to complain about being racially profiled by store clerks?  Folks should think about that for a minute.

Since this story has gotten out, many are expressing outrage with NYPD and Barney New York as they should.. Others are upset with Trayon and openly asking; why a 19-year-old college student holding a part-time job would buy a $300 belt.. They are mocking him saying he was foolish and overtly materialistic.

The irony is some people raising this issue and looking down their noses at Trayon have iPhones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and every model iPad that’s ever come out. In addition, they are paying anywhere from $125-200 a month in telecom bills that limit the amount of bandwidth you can use all so they can to keep them running, but we’re pointing fingers at dude for getting a belt? We should be pointing fingers at the CEO of Barneys New York Mark Lee for having jacked up policies

Some who are upset with Trayon have closets full of Jordans, Kanyes, Lebrons and any number of basketball shoes named after athletes. They just don’t have one pair, they have several in all sorts of different colors, with price tags ranging from $150- $200 a pop..But they’re mad at homeboy for buying a belt?

Some who are criticizing Trayon for buying a $300 belt are wearing $800 shoes

Some who are criticizing Trayon for buying a $300 belt are wearing $800 shoes

Some of the women criticizing Trayon for buying this belt have several pair of Loubatin shoes that start at $600 a pair. They’ll look scornfully at any sister who walks in the room wearing knockoffs accusing her of being ‘cheap’. We wont even get into a discussion about all the Coach, Louis Vuitton and other expensive handbags and purses that run into the hundreds and even the thousands that folks own.

Can we talk about expensive hair pieces that some are wearing and how much they cost compared to that belt? We all saw the Chris Rock movie ‘Good Hair’ and saw there’s good number of folks shelling out rent money to get weaves..

Here’s my point, this young brother, Trayon had the good sense after being humiliated to launch a lawsuit against those who dissed him.. He didn’t spend 300.00 bucks.. He got his money back and may make 10 times that when all is said and done…

In the meantime we have all sorts of iPhones,  ipads and other expensive gadgets from a companies that not only exploit their overseas workforce, but also uses material from the Congo where millions have been killed and millions have been raped to make sure they have precious metals like coltan used for those iphones..What lawsuit have we launched? What boycott are we leading? When did we return our gadgets and call for companies to put an end to the exploitation, murder, rape and pillaging of our people?

Workers routinely die in overseas factories where expensive goods are made

Workers routinely die in overseas factories where expensive goods are made

We have basketball shoes that cost damn near pennies to make in places like Bangladesh where people die routinely by the hundreds because of horrid and dangerous factory conditions..The shoes are marked up 500% and we not only pay for them, but sometimes we’ll rob and kill others for them..What lawsuits have we launched at these companies exploiting 3rd world folks who look like us?

When some basketball stars tried to introduce a less expensive show to the market and kept it Black owned.. We scoffed and laughed and said in order to be down we must floss and rejected the less expensive brands.

With respect to the expensive purses, handbags and hair, we have long known that there’s been a strong undercurrent of intolerance by people offering up those goods.. Many of y’all reading this have been followed dissed and had noses turned up at stores where you brought those fancy handbags. Heck, Oprah was dissed trying to purchase an expensive purse. Yet we still buy these bags with no lawsuits.. Even Oprah didn’t sue

Need we talk about the irony of buying hair that gets marked up to outrageous prices from a country where they have a caste system to this day. People holding our complexion are called ‘untouchables‘ and deemed the lowest of the low..

But as long as the hair looks good, what do we care? As long as the shoes look nice what do we care? As long as that iphone works what do we care? Props to Trayon for taking a stand, when will the rest of us?

written by -Davey D-

Was Sergio Romo’s ‘I Just Look Illegal’ T-shirt Self Mockery or Strong Pushback on Racial Profiling

Sergio Romo

Yesterday millions of people all over the world saw SF Giants pitcher Sergio Romo sporting a t-shirt that some thought was making a satirical in your face statement about racial profiling and being deemed ‘illegal‘. The shirt which read ‘I Just look Illegal‘, definitely raised eyebrows and got folks talking.

Some say Romo’s provocative t-shirt was a way of reminding people that in a day and time when many who are of Mexican descent are demonized, stereotyped and in the political and social cross hairs of those holding xenophobic outlooks, that they are in fact more often than not fellow citizens. Not only are they fellow citizens, but many have roots and family ties that run deeper to this land called America, then those doing the profiling. On various social media sites, there was many who gave props to Romo.

But many more found the shirt to be profoundly offensive and a big step backwards especially for those who have fought tirelessly to get folks to stop using the term ‘illegal’ when describing people who are undocumented..Whether it was intended or not many felt what Romo did was self mockery where he gave folks outside of immigrant communities that are frequently targeted, a license to further embrace a nasty stereotype..The concern is many who are now buying these t-shirts which are now selling off the shelves after yesterday’s widely watched parade are not getting the political context or the intended satire.

A recent article in the popular blog Think Mexican breaks down the concern many are feeling. One excerpt reads as follows;

…..Unfortunately, it was a very poor choice that sends the wrong message and validates racism and ignorance.

What does the phrase “I JUST LOOK ILLEGAL” really mean?

It’s based on the premise that there are people who are “illegal,” and thus people who “look illegal,” a term intended to dehumanize migrant workers in the United States, specifically those who make up the majority of this group, Mexicans.

By stating that one “just looks illegal,” the implicit message is that it’s okay criminalize people based on their appearance, as long as we distinguish between those who are “illegal” and those who only appear to be based on heritage and phenotype……..

The other message being sent with this shirt is that of racial self-mockery. Sergio seems to want to say: I’m Mexican, but I’m a jokester; I’m not a threat.

As we all well know, in the United States, Mexican Americans have been routinely stopped, arrested, and even deported under Barack Obama’s aggressive quota-based system of immigration enforcement. In the case of Raúl Castro, you can be a former US ambassador and governor of Arizona and still be detained by the US Border Patrol. And not just once, but several times.

Another excerpt is….

Imagine an African American wearing a shirt saying: “I JUST LOOK LIKE A MONKEY,” or a gay man wearing one that reads: “I JUST LOOK LIKE A CHILD MOLESTER.” The idea alone is absurd, as it should be. But the fact is, is that both were at one time popular slurs used to dehumanize gays and blacks, respectively.

You can read the rest of the article by clicking the link below

http://thinkmexican.org/post/34742243783/sergio-romo-i-just-look-illegal-tshirt-mockery-validates

Although not fully addressed in the article, is the two edge sword when pop culture icons and professional athletes use their celebrity to make political statements. It can be a great thing if you are in agreement with the statement. Celebrities are instrumental in shaping opinions and bringing attention to key issues.

The flipside is they can in an instance move the crowd in another direction. This is especially true if that celebrity embraces a word or phrase that folks find problematic. In the case of Romo, does he wearing this shirt overshadow the campaign to not call folks ‘illegal’? How does any of this shake out when many express  frustration and even anger when athletes and celebrities remain silent and apolitical? Was Romo being subversive?

Anyway peep the article and share your thoughts..

Mayor Ed Lee Clarifies his position on Stop & Frisk Policy In San Francisco

 

In recent days SF Mayor Ed ‘Emperor’ Lee has come under fire about his public admiration of New York City’s infamous Stop and Frisk Police..The idea that he might adapt that policy led to a series of angry denouncements, demonstrations, lots of emails and phone calls to his office. Topping all of this was this recent stinging rebuke from Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report..

MAYOR LEE’S STATEMENT CLARIFYING “STOP & FRISK POLICY”
AND SAN FRANCISCO

Mayor Ed Lee

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement on San Francisco and “Stop and Frisk Policy”:

“The month of June in San Francisco experienced a spike in shootings and homicides in our Southeast
neighborhoods. This is unacceptable and while I take this issue extremely seriously, I want to be clear that I
have not considered implementing a policy in San Francisco that would violate anyone’s constitutional rights or
that would result in racial profiling. I have stated that I am willing to look at what other cities are doing to
reduce gun violence, including cities like New York and Philadelphia that both have stop and frisk programs.

I have been meeting with community leaders, have attended services to meet with congregants and have met
with law enforcement about this issue. We share grave concerns about gun violence and its disproportionate
impact on communities of color and youth in San Francisco. We need to do more.

Public safety can only be achieved through collaboration and partnership between law enforcement and the
communities we all serve. Community policing and community development efforts have important roles to
play in the prevention of violence, and I will continue to meet with community leaders and faith based
organizations to advance these priorities.

I want to be very clear. As a former human rights director and civil rights attorney, I hold the individual
protections afforded to us all under the 4th Amendment as sacrosanct. As we continue our discussions to reduce
violence and get guns out of our communities, I will not support, nor will I put forward any proposal that will
violate any such protections, but I am willing to move forward with bold ideas that get to results.

I will continue to work with the community to end gun violence in San Francisco.”

7.17.12 Clarifying Stop & Frisk Policy Statement

 

Carl Dix: Connecting NYPD’s Stop and Frisk Policy w/ Trayvon Martin Case (HKR Intv)

It’s always a pleasure chopping it up w/ freedom fighter Carl Dix.. He’s dedicated to the struggle and willing to walk the walk of the things he talks. In recent months Dix along with scholar/activist Cornel West have pushed back hard on the NYPD and their infamous Stop and Frisk policy. They even put the policy on trial with plans to follow-up with similar measures in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Last year over 680k people have been stopped and searched by police. Over 85% have been Black or Brown men with less than 5% convicted of carrying any weapon or committing crime. Dix noted that currently NYPD is on pace to stop and frisk over 800k. Dix noted the root cause of this disparity is racial profiling.

Currently Dix is down in Sanford, Florida on what is part of a BAsic Bus Tour through the South. Dix reaffirmed what M1 from dead prez had told us a few weeks back, that the spirit of resistance is alive and well and very strong in Sanford which is where the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman saga is unfolding.  This is a story often overlooked by the mainstream media..

During our conversation, Dix makes the connection between the Stop and Frisk policies in NY and the current climate of vigilantism that we saw play itself out in Sanford.. You can peep that interview below..