By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Giant retailers Macy’s and Barneys are currently under fire after several black shoppers accused them of racial profiling and the whole controversy quickly made Jay Z the target of the scandal. As we reported recently, Jay Z recently inked a deal with Barneys to release a Holiday collection which would use the proceeds to donate to his charity, The Sean Carter Foundation. The Hip Hop star was pressured by his own fans to walk away from the deal.
In the end, Jay decided to stick with Barneys and the retailer agreed to donate 100% of the money made from the collection to Jay Z’s foundation. The rapper and business man even says he will be getting involved and making sure the store’s policies will put an end to racial profiling. However, one of the shoppers who claims they were racially profiled by Barneys and the NYPD stated he was disappointed in Jay Z for not walking away.
Former Vogue Magazine editor at large Andre Leon Talley has spoken out about the situation, and he’s telling African Americans “with any consciousness” not to shop at Barneys nor Macy’s. He tells the New York Times:
“Any African-American, male or female, with any consciousness of what has happened would not go into Barneys right now. Nor Macy’s. [If I was in Jay Z’s position] for the simplicity of making a broad statement I would pull out.”
Oh I’m already boycotting both stores. I didn’t even think twice.
Exactly. That was a foregone conclusion.
Cosign 100%. We shouldn’t support establishments that can’t even show us respect.
I’ve been boycotting. #shrugs
There’s no need to keep bringing up Jay Z’s selfish azz in this conversation. He already made it clear where he stands on all of this. Smh.
I agree.
I’m definitely not giving ether one of these stores my money!
I’m keeping my money.
I agree people in fashion know first hand just how shady these big retailers can be.
Why macys though?
They got called out for racial profiling too by a black actor.
I totally understand Barneys. Macy’s not so much. Macy’s 34th Street incident involving the actor is unfortunate.
34th St Macy’s is huge, and it is really a diverse environment in terms of employees & shoppers, tourist. They play different genre of music throughout the entire store, Pop, Reggae, Rap, & R&B etc.
Black people in NYC love to live beyond their means, so it is not uncommon for a Black male or female to go into Prada or Gucci and spend $400 on shoes.
I’ve been to that same exact Barney’s, though I was not racially profiled, I still felt some type of way at that store. They don’t want anything considered dark to shop there, I guess is a personal thing. I can ensure you I never had this problem with,. Burberry, Prada, Gucci, Macy’s, Saks, or Bloomingdales, These stores want your business.
. The new trend in NYC is “banging” where people have cards with their name on it but it contains other people cc information. Macy’s is aware of this, and I think the person was being proactive. I’ve witness Caucasion people arrested at Macy’s at 34th street for scamming.
caucasian*
I won’t be boycotting these companies that typically target black men until these same black men boycott celebrities that demean black women. Where is the call to boycott Kevin Hart for the nonsense he says about dark skinned women (mind u I am fair skinned) or to boycott Kanye or the countless black celebs and athletes that demean and disregard black females saying we are not worthy to date or marriage, call us loud and ugly and ghetto, but we still rush to give them our paychecks on the regular. No sir, I’m not boycotting for the black male anymore until I see them boycotting for me and my future black daughters.
Umm you do know that one of the victims from the situation at Barneys is a black woman right? Smh.