REBOOT: Shopping While Black

Hello friends,

‘Tis the season, which means it’s a good time to revisit this topic I wrote about three years ago. As you read this month’s Reboot, I’ve probably just racked up more racist shopping experiences while in the UK. I’m not calling those in, but I know what usually happens…

Shopping While Black

If there’s one experience that makes me aware of my otherness in a global minority country, it’s shopping. For most global minority people it’s a nice fun activity, right? That’s not always the case if you’re Black.

I’ve seen the TV shows and movies where white people go into a shop, rifle through the racks, make havoc and then leave without incident. I’ve even seen them indulge in a little light shoplifting, just for fun. [2024 update: and this activity is actively dangerous for Black folx who happen to accompany shoplifting white friends. As a young person I know once said: I have to leave the shop immediately so I won’t be accused or arrested.]

None of those matches my experience when I’m shopping. (And before you ask, I can usually tell if treatment is racially motivated because I see how salespeople treat the paler people who come through the door.)

No, You’re Not Being Served

In my experience, there are all sorts of ways that salespeople can let you know you don’t belong. Now, I’m not the kind of person that needs someone to be over helpful, but there are times when SOME help would be useful.

Sometimes I walk through the door, and I can see the salesperson sizing me up and deciding I’m not worth their time, without saying a word. (Interestingly, that experience also happens in Barbados, where certain shops are notorious for ignoring locals in favor of white tourists - white supremacy at work again).

Anyway, I don’t mind being ignored most of the time, because if I find what I want I can blow their minds by turning up at the cash register with an item and - gasp - the wherewithal to pay for it.

Sometimes, if you actually need help, it’s hard to find someone to assist you. I’ve lost count of the times when I’ve been assessed with an inaudible sniff, handed off to a junior colleague, or simply ignored, while the salesperson serves white customers or simply browses social media - anything to avoid helping me. And at the cash desk, I’m almost always the person who has to wait while they complete some suddenly urgent task. [2024 update: this hasn’t changed at all. I’ve experienced it at least once in every shopping trip in the UK or US.]

Someone’s Always Watching You

Another iteration of this is when the salesperson comes up to you while you’re looking at an item, and tries to steer you towards the sale rack. Or to tell you - without you asking - how much the item is (as if you can’t read a price tag). I remember having this happen when I was with my sister and daughter. We’d each planned to buy something but ended up taking our business elsewhere. She lost three sales that day, and lost our business forever.

The worst of these experiences is when salespeople and security guards start following you around the shop from the minute you walk in. Even if you’re not aware of it immediately, you soon get that prickling at the back of your neck that tells you you’re being watched. Sometimes, they’ll try to pretend they’re doing something else, as if they’re tailing someone in a bad detective movie. At other times, they’ll stare at you challengingly, as if daring you to make something of it. I never do, but just live with the discomfort.

As for wreaking havoc in a shop, I wouldn’t dare. In fact, I do my best to maintain a low profile. If I’m shopping with my sister, and one of us says something funny and we start to laugh, we’re very conscious that we don’t want to get too loud - after all, some white people already think Black people are too boisterous. We don’t want to make things harder for the rest of the team.