My complaint:
Tonight my daughter and I went shopping at the Michael’s at the Rosedale store in Bakersfield. Immediately, the white lady employee standing near the isle and door neither greeted us or smiled at us. She suspiciously looked at us as though we were common Thieves. She tried to inconspicuously follow us. I entered the store knowing exactly what I wanted and browsed the store looking for other deals. When I went to the back of the store I discovered an 80% off rack of items and once again there the lady was. I heard on the intercom “ Security ..”. Now mind you, the store did not have very many customers at the time and it was obvious that we were the only black customers in the store. The cashier neither greeted or commented on my savings of $184.00. I spent $166 on fall decorations for my classroom. While I’m not accusing the employees of direct racism, their body language and failure to be respectful regardless of my race was unacceptable. Shame on you Michael’s for not training your employees on implicit bias and shame on you white lady who followed me and my daughter in the store and cashier guy for making me feel racially violated. Guess what I forgive you both. Ignorance is bliss.
Suggested solution:
Diversity training for all employees on implicit bias.
