After an incident at a Dallas-area Kroger's, representatives from the grocery store chain are promising to accelerate sensitivity training for its employees.
Ukiah Swain's sons and nephews, all ranging in age from 15 to 20, were shopping at a Kroger's in Mesquite, Texas, on Thursday night. After paying for their snacks, the young men were cornered by the assistant manager who then phoned the police, according to HuffPost.
Even though the teens produced receipts to justify their purchases, authorities still ticketed them for trespassing. Per HuffPost, the assistant manager advised them to do so. If they return, the trespassing citation could make them viable for arrest.
"I've been crying for days. I don't want to cry anymore," Ukiah Swain told NBC DFW.
Swain's 16-year-old son Zavarion asked the manager why he decided to contact the authorities.
His alleged response was, "We've had problems with people like you before."
The mother of seven reportedly received a similar answer from him. She said he told her, "They looked like they could be shoplifters," as he laughed.
Swain described the embarrassment on the teen's face and revealed he asked her how to avoid looking like a "criminal" in the future.
"You could see the hurt on his face. You could see the pain, and he asked me, 'Ma, how do I not look like a criminal so this doesn't happen again?"
Since the incident, a spokesperson for Kroger's has apologized to Swain and informed her the employee in question had been removed from his post, pending an investigation. In a statement, the Ohio-based company admitted it did not "live up to our values."
"We strive to provide a welcoming environment and to show respect for all customers. We did not live up to our values in this situation," the statement read.
"We recognize these steps alone won’t change the broader systemic and cultural biases that plague our society, but we believe that together they demonstrate the seriousness with which we take these issues and our desire to be a part of the solution."
Kroger's vowed to expedite an already-planned sensitivity seminar across its Dallas-area stores by the end of the month, writes the New York Daily News.
This is not the first time Black people have been racially profiled while shopping. A Maryland couple filed a $4 million lawsuit against Costco in November after they claimed sales associates accused them of stealing a refrigerator.
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