Have you ever felt watched while shopping at Urban Outfitters? Chances are, you probably were. I was a previous employee of Urban for over two years and during my training, we were taught to call "suspicious shoppers" the name "Nick." I thought nothing of it, especially since this was my first retail job and I wanted to prove that I could sell items all while keeping thieves away. However, months later I discovered this code name "Nick" was nothing but a cover up for black shoppers.

It is not rare to hear employees over their walkie talkies state "Nick approaching cash wrap," "Nick headed downstairs", "Nick in the fitting room," — the list goes on. I could not help but notice all of these "Nicks" were black. During my employment with Urban, I literally can not think of a time when the identified "Nick" was not black or of color. Would we get rowdy customers that would be screaming at employees, customers that I could see stuff their bags with items, or a time when a security tag would fall out of a customer's hand? Heck yea. However, they were never called a Nick, but I mean they were white so that hinders them being a Nick, right?

To make matters worse, there was a moment at my particular store location when an employee (we'll call her "Kim") walked towards the lower level of the store to begin her shift. Another one of our employees (who we will call "Steve") could be heard saying quite loud and clear: "Nick to lower level". Kim suddenly screamed '"really!", Steve came to his own defense: "OMG Kim, I did not realize that was you!" My question is, what was Kim doing that was so suspicious except walking downstairs? Oh, that's right, she was black.

Now being a social activist myself, I could no longer swallow working for a company such as UO. Sadly, I will admit I became a customer of the company by purchasing Tupac shirts, albums by pro-black artists such as Solange, Kendrick Lamar, and Lauryn Hill. Nonetheless, I was just another "Nick" to various Urban Outfitters locations. Of course, I only knew the term because of my period of working there, but I also felt followed. I am quite certain that plenty of customers who are of color have felt the same at one point in time.

I decided to alleviate Urban Outfitters from my shopping sprees, and I did well for a while. Years later, in spite of my experiences, I needed a particular spray that I knew few stores sold around the city, and hey, it was a while since I shopped with them, maybe this zebra magically changed its stripes. As I walked into this particular Urban Outfitters, I could hear Nas being played in the loudspeakers, see Solange's A Seat at the Table album glistening under the lights of the record section, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat graphic tee. I began to look over items in the women's section, and I could not resist the sale they had on underwear, so I went nuts picking up each one I adored. There were also these mules I saw on the UO website that I did not see displayed, so I approached an employee I spotted near the fitting room to inquire about them. As I got closer, she held her walkie-talkie to her lips and without a doubt said, "Nick is about to try things on".

For some strange reason I became angry, here I am with only underwear and spray in my hands (which you can not bring into the fitting rooms of UO by the way), being accused of being a "Nick." Why was I angry? I should have known this system carried on in each UO store. No matter how well I looked (manicured nails, faux locs moisturized, a REAL fur coat on) I was still just another "Nick," or dare I say, "black." I could no longer be silent about this, so I stated my discomfort with a black employee at the register. "I felt so uncomfortable when I was called a Nick." She looked shocked, sucked her teeth and said, "See I hate this, we should not have to feel this way when we are shopping." I stated that sometimes I feel like it's almost inevitable, and something that we as black people have to unnecessarily go through. She apologized and tried her best to put a smile back on my face, but the damage was already done.

So I urge you if you're of color, and especially black, please do not be like me. I knew what type of company Urban Outfitters is, sadly it is not the only one that trains its employees to think like this. There are countless retailers who probably have code words that only identify when a person of color is in the vicinity. One that in fact may not even be stealing, one who could even be approaching the register to PAY for something, but is still a "Nick", as UO calls us. Invest your money into your communities, take the extra trip to go purchase that spray at a black owned beauty supply. Do whatever it takes, because, despite a company profiting off of our singers, rappers, artists, and musicians, we are just a "Nick" to them.

KHIYANNA

Writing since March 2017 · 1 story contributed