Fellow students and the community march in protest
Editor’s note: This article was previously published on another platform in May 2021. But the topic is not outdated. Important takeaways for 2024 and beyond are included. More details and a news video have been added.
When fifth grader, Ja’mari Oliver walked into a supermarket to buy a sandwich from the deli, as his mother waited in the car for his return, he did not expect to be detained by two security guards.
“I went to the sandwich deli to pay for my sandwich… Then the security guard told me to put my sandwich on the counter because I didn’t pay for it.
I just showed them the receipt and they kept on coming. The other security guard said the person told them at the sandwich deli … I didn’t pay for it,” Oliver said.
A store manager intervened, and Oliver was able to get away and left the store in tears. His mother returned to the store and the manager apologized and offered a $25 gift card…refused.
The family had bought a sandwich at the location every school day since kindergarten. (KRON news interview)
Oliver’s teachers went to the grocery store to complain and within days, fellow students, parents, and community activists marched against the store’s outrageous treatment. Oliver, an honor student since kindergarten, attended the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy in San Francisco, according to CBS News.
Oliver’s experience, sans marvelous public support, is more common than the public realizes.
The incident underscores issues of poorly trained and dangerous guards: the fifth grader produced a receipt, so why did two security guards escalate the confrontation and repeatedly harass and humiliate a child over a non-issue?
How would the guards have reacted if Oliver had gotten angry and tried to leave without the manager’s saying so?
And if a report was made by the deli to security, who made the report and why? Or was there ever a deli report?
Students get the talk from their families about police, but security guards, racial profiling, and what to do when confronted with a false accusation in a store environment are often overlooked topics.
The security industry is well known for its problem of poorly trained guards. When these guards engage with the unsuspecting public, it can be incredibly traumatic for targeted customers, as publications such as The Wall Street Journal have reported.
Sources
CBS News.com
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-francisco-students-parents-protest-racial-profiling-5th-grader-castro-safeway/
Note KRON video is 2:39 minutes
Quick racial profiling vocabulary for consumers
Falsely accused versus wrongly accused…
Wrongly is a term used when an honest mistake is made. But when one accuses despite having evidence to the contrary, then the accusation is false.
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