Token Black...

So... Barneys of NY has been caught racially profiling young black men and women based on their skin color and apparently the cost of merchandise-Then immediately it becomes Jay’s Barney and Jay-Z’s problem, which is ridicules to anyone with common sense. I read one report that said…”if it’s on the table it’s for eating” meaning that if Jay-Z is in any way connected to this establishment, some are narrow minded enough to think now it’s his fault-Macy’s also has been charged in the “court of public opinion” of not playing nice with black people-Sure they would say there is no particular reason why just black folk are targeted and point out the fact that they employ many many black people to work for them. They would also point out that they cannot think of a time where this type of action was warranted, but for the millions of us who continue to patronage these places, we know better. We understand why at times we feel we must have our cash in hand to justify even being inside of a lot of stores. The climate inside of these stores is one that is not really conducive to a calm, comfortable, shopping experience. 

Barneys is just one of the places that we have to be careful in, Macy’s Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and even the corner Chinese hair stores in our own neighborhoods just to name a few. Stop & Frisk (which is now also Shop & BE frisked) has happened in numerous cases already...there are many complaints against NYPD for people being stopped & frisked (which STILL is a search equal to Slave papers of old) WITHOUT a warrant.

Once an entity has been shown to be effective in their pursuit of “control” over people, such as checking bags, denying purchases, doubting purchases options, stopping them on the street for ID for no apparent reason, regulating what they eat and drink http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-bloomberg-soda-article-1.1490333  it then becomes easier for other people, places and things, to follow suit. They do not have to reinvent the wheel and come up with ways to keep people in their places; the ways used have been proven to be adequate-McDonald s Corporation has a black CEO, http://gawker.com/mcdonalds-ceo-in-feisty-racial-exploitation-accusation-509710633 No one has called for him to cut his ties with McDonald's because children and adults alike are becoming morbidly obese by consuming his companies product. Most are not even aware of his position and even if they were, it wouldn't stop McDonald’s sales; The McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/home.html  The issue with Jay-and Barneys is more diluted but supposedly more intense-Calls and petitions were enacted to try and get Jay to pull his upcoming clothing line with the company-It became clear to those of us that understand people and business that a clear stable approach is often times the best approach.

We can learn something from Jay’s actions during this “witch hunt” that appropriately occurred during the Halloween season-In business as in real life-Do not rush to judgment, get the truth from the horses mouth, and then check to see if there is any way to amicably solve the crises, without having to elevate the situation and always allow cooler heads to prevail. Jay-Z has not always had the means to be able to sit down with a major corporation and hash out and discuss these types of issues and receive a personal apology for even the semblance of inappropriate actions, based on racially explosive behavior. http://www.christianpost.com/news/barneys-apologizes-to-jay-z-shoppers-claiming-racial-profiling-107795/  But one thing is certain Jay has always been black and certainly no stranger to discrimination based on many factors, and for those who hate this type of skin judgment-Just do not shop and exchange currency with these businesses, as the old saying goes..Money talks…and BS walks…