Retail Racism

Retail Racism helps readers understand the experiences of ordinary Black and Brown people as they navigate everyday shopping. Based on interviews with minority consumers across the country, Michelle Dunlap enables a larger discussion that engages readers and empowers them to confront the racialized handling of consumers in America today.

Videos capturing everyday indignities and injury toward Black or Brown consumers have become media staples, showing the complexity, risk, and traumas many shoppers encounter in retail, restaurants, and other marketplaces. But each one quickly fades in the media spotlight. In Retail Racism, Michelle Dunlap helps readers understand the ongoing experiences of Black and Brown people as they navigate this reality. Based on 19 in-depth interviews with consumers across the country, Dunlap aims to create a larger discussion that engages readers and empowers them to interrupt, disrupt, and ameliorate the inappropriate and racialized handling of consumers in America today. In doing so, Retail Racism is about not only shopping, but also humane living in America, including surviving and making sense of inequitable experiences, what to do about them, and the larger issues and contexts that surround the marketplace for Black and Brown people. A portion of the author proceeds from book sales are automatically donated to The Florida Education Fund (FEF), a non-profit organization established in 1984 to help provide opportunities for educational advancement.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION

PREFACE

(INTRODUCTION)

PART 1: MONITORING

Poem 1: Alfreda Recalls Marshall Fields, by Tara Betts

(INTRODUCTION)

MISPERCEIVED: “Oh Reverend, I’m So Sorry” (Alton’s story)

MISTRUSTED: “So I’m a Suspect, and It Makes Me Feel Terrible” (Balbira’s story)

MORTIFIED: “My Sense of Gravity Knows Where Your Center of Gravity Is” (Chad’s story)

MANAGED: “Fried Chicken!” (Dana’s story)

MISTOOK: “I Was Hoping to Live Long Enough to See Major Changes on Earth” (Eleanor’s story)

Monitoring: Things that Part 1’s Monitoring Can Teach Consumers and Marketers

Monitoring: Reflection Questions & Related Readings

PART 2: INEQUITIES

Poem 2: Internal Dialogue, by Micah E. Lubensky

Poem 3: “Two Friends”, by Lisa Mallory

(INTRODUCTION)

INDICTED: “It’s Not For Sale” (Graham’s story)

INTIMIDATED: “It’s Really Painful for a Kid” (Janisha’s story)

INSULTED: “Every Kind Of Cracker That Nabisco Makes” (Tamir’s story)

INVALIDATED: “I Am The Minority, The ‘Foreigner’” (Hart’s story)

Inequities: Things that Part 2’s Inequities Can Teach Consumers and Marketers

Inequities: Reflection Questions & Related Readings

PART 3: TRAUMAS

Poem 4: #IfIWasGunnedDown, by Malik S. Champlain

Poem 5: Brown Girl Shopping, byArakcelis Gomez

(INTRODUCTION)

TARGETED: “The Book of Robbers, Scammers, and Fraudulents” (Finley’s story)

TRAUMATIZED: “Wouldn’t You Want to Hear My Story if You’re Ready to Shoot Me?” (Kenrec’s story)

TERRIFIED: “This Is What You Put Me Through as a Mother-- as a Black Mother and Her Son-- in This Community.” (Latasha’s story)

TRIGGERED: “My DNA Remembers, Even if My Conscious Mind Doesn't”, by Michelle R. Dunlap

TORMENTED: “I Lifted My Sweater Just Enough for Them To See I Had Stolen Nothing” (Priscilla’s story)

Trauma: Things that Part 3’s Traumas Can Teach Consumers and Marketers

Traumas: Reflection Questions & Related Readings

PART 4: PHILOSOPHIES

Poem 6: The Invisible Pause, by Denise M. Keyes

Poem 7: Whitney in the Purple Dress, by Michelle Dunlap

(INTRODUCTION)

PLAGUED: “It’s a Wonder Black People Live to Fifty” (Rekia’s story)

PRECONCEIVED: “[I’m] the Bull’s-Eye!” (Stephon’s story)

PRIVILEGED: “Just Because I’m White Doesn’t Mean It Does Not Matter” (Heather’s story)

PERTURBED: “I Am No Fan of Insurance Companies, Pure and Simple” (Vernon’s story)

Philosophies: Things that Part 4’s Philosophies Can Teach Consumers and Marketers

Philosophies: Reflection Questions & Related Readings

CONCLUSION

Poem 8: Shopping While Black, by Frances Shani Parker

Poem 9: In Her Image, by Kenneth E. Watts

NOTES

REFERENCE LIST

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR