I am sure by now you’ve all heard about the huge lawsuit Barneys high end department store has coming its way. If you have been out of the loop let me fill you in… 19 year old, African American Trayon Christian was wrongfully accused of using a phony credit card to buy a $349 Ferragamo belt. After he walked out of the store he was approached by undercover police officers who questioned his purchase and took him to the precinct. While at the precinct they proceeded to question Trayon about his credit card and even called his bank to verify if it was him or not. He was later released after verification from his bank (and I assume given a weak apology by the police department), went back to Barneys and returned the belt.
This is not the first time Barneys has been accused for racial profiling. About two years ago an African American girl bought a $2,500 with her tax refund. They also believed that she used a phony credit card. This story was extremely upsetting to read. There are so many young African Americans in today’s society doing credit card scams daily and it’s sad to say this is the reason more and more Blacks will be targeted. Barneys has said that the employees followed all procedures and did not racially profile Mr. Christian, but if that were true why did they call the police?
Rap star Jay Z has a deal with Barneys department store. The Sean Carter foundation was founded on the importance of helping individuals facing socio-economic hardships to obtain higher education. Ever since this came about newspapers have demonized Jay Z and ridiculed him, news publications have been calling him out left and right to pull out of his deal with Barneys and this was his response: Jay Z told America first and foremost that he understands the effects of racial profiling and it is nothing new to him, however making fast decisions before all of the facts come out to please the public would make him look just as bad. He proceeded to say he is not making any profit off of this store, his foundation is the beneficiary and they receive all profits plus additional donations from Barneys. People are demonizing him for what appears to be lack of interest but what they fail to understand is that if he quickly pulled out of this deal Barneys wouldn’t be hurt nor would he, those who strive for a higher education would be the ones that suffer.
Way to put these people in their places Jay! America is always so fast to put social problems on celebrities how about taking action yourself. Many of those who signed petitions to get Jay Z’s attention probably know a few people who do credit card scams and they are the reason why things like this happen.
All we can do at this moment is wait for Barneys to sit with community leaders to discuss this matter and figure out what to do next.
TeeSocialLiteePR 
