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Racial ProfilingPicture this - it is Saturday morning, you finally have some time to run an errand or two, so you head out to the mall to buy some new clothes for work. When you arrive, you go to your favorite store, browse, try on pants, pick a pair you like, and carry your selection to the shoe department to shop some more before you check out. While shopping for shoes, you notice a couple of sale’s people shadowing you but not offering service. Thinking nothing of this, you keep shopping. Suddenly, you are approached by store security, detained, accused of shoplifting, marched through the store to a back office, searched, interrogated, and photographed before being handed a slip of paper telling you to never return to the store or you will be arrested for trespassing. Shocked, humiliated and confused, you leave the store and your selection. It happens and all too often it happens to minority shoppers. With the increase in minority consumer spending power, consumer racial profiling, though well documented and widely criticized, may even be on the rise as minority consumers frequent predominately white areas to do their shopping. Consumer Racial Profiling (“CRP”) is defined as any type of differential treatment of consumers in the marketplace based on race/ethnicity that constitutes denial or degradation in the product or services offered to consumers. In a retail setting, CRP can take many different forms, including avoidance actions (refusal of service), rejection actions (denying an opportunity to purchase), discouraging actions (slow service), verbal actions (degrading racial epithets), and physical actions (detentions, interrogations, arrests). Anecdotal and research evidence indicates that the practice not only occurs in retail settings but also at, for example, eating establishments and service stations. Victims suffer humiliation and even physical injuries. At one major retailer, several deaths have occurred as a result of security contacts, all but one of which involved minorities. Many victims live with the humiliation not knowing what to do about the unfair treatment they experienced or how to deal with the insulting burden they are forced to carry. Though limited, victims do have rights under state and federal law. Our Texas Constitution prohibits discrimination, but the only relief consumers may seek is an injunction. Consequently, Texas law, unlike the laws of other states, fails to this day to provide meaningful accountability for civil rights violations. Given this, victims rely upon state common law claims such as false imprisonment, negligence and, in some cases, assault and battery. Under certain circumstances, federal civil rights laws may provide relief. A claim filed in court by a victim may be the only way to expose and prevent the occurrence of unequal treatment. If you find yourself in a consumer setting where you believe you are being treated unfairly, there are things you can immediately do to protect yourself. Think carefully about your words, movement and body language. Remain calm. Avoid getting into an argument with the person harassing you. Keep your hands visible. Remember names. Do not sign anything that you have not read or do not believe to be accurate or fair. As soon as you can, write down everything you remember happening so you can give that to a lawyer. Contact a lawyer. While a business owner may detain someone to investigate ownership of goods, the detention must be based on reasonable suspicion. Further, the manner and length of the detention must be reasonable. It is never reasonable to stop someone if the person’s race, age, sex or disability is a factor in the decision to stop a consumer. By remaining calm and paying close attention to your surroundings, you may notice that people of another race are being treated differently than you. Rare are the circumstances today that a business or individual admits prejudice, for today people are far too sophisticated to state outright that your race, age, sex or disability had anything to do with how you were treated. While overt indications of prejudice are uncommon today, your personal observations when coupled with internal company records, witness statements and other similar claims may reveal a pattern and practice demonstrating that certain people are, in essence, subject to surveillance or differential treatment at higher rates than another group. Importantly, there is something more you can do to better protect the right of consumers to spend their hard earned dollars free from prejudice. Our state law does not currently afford the type of civil rights protections that can adequately deter discrimination in consumer settings. Rosa Parks sat down so we could stand up. We need state laws today that not only prohibit discrimination but also provide civil damage protections which victims can use to address their own unjust experience and prevent future harm to others. Contact your state legislator and urge your state legislator to make this type of legislation a top priority. Other states have already done so. Texas should do so as well. Case Evaluation If you or somebody you know is in need of legal assistance, please fill out our case review form below. You may also contact us toll free by dialing (888) 430-1122
Racial Profiling News (National)
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