Barneys NY, accused of racially profiling

1.http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/barneys-ny-accused-of-racially-profiling-shoppers-pledges-policy-review-dialogue/2013/10/24/c714b8cc-3d0e-11e3-b0e7-716179a2c2c7_story.html

2. Category: Racial Profiling

3. Level: local

4. This Washington post article is about two black shoppers at barneys being questioned about their purchases. They have now both filed complaints and a lawsuit against the actions.

5. How does this affect families/individuals?
- Individuals are feeling insecure because of their race. This is a form of racism that is directly targeting those of African American and of a young adult age.

6. My views:
- I think what has happened recently at Barney's is an act of pure ignorance. Police that have authority should not be abusing their powers. I would certainly hope that if a store thought a shopper was being suspicious they would confront them at that time. I am sure Barney's has a better protocol for instances such as these. It does not sound professional to me that Barney's would attach the customer after the purchase has been made and after they were outside the store. I will be very interested in seeing how this lawsuit plays out. I assume that, at the least, there will be new policies put into place because of this occurrence.
 Racism is a terrible issue in this country. This could have just been a coincidence that the two customers that were questioned where both black, but I do not think it was. No matter how much we try to fight it, racism is very much a real thing. We need to stop judging people by stereotypes and their outward appearances.