Bigot brother
by Jon Worley

A couple weeks back, a jury in Kansas City, Kan., awarded $1 million to a black woman who alleged that her race was the only consideration behind a search of her bag at the Oak Park Mall Dillard's store in Overland Park, Kan. (a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.). This isn't the first time Dillard's has been nailed by such a claim, and it probably won't be the last.

I feel something of a kinship with this woman. Mainly because I get followed whenever I wander through particular stores (Dillard's is certainly the most egregious offender). Now, I surmise this has nothing to do with my race (I am white, a fact which annoys me from time to time), but has everything to do with my general appearance. My hair is extremely long (it's much closer to my waist than my collar) and I usually wear jeans and a t-shirt when out and about. Clean clothes (clean hair and clean skin, for that matter), but it doesn't seem to make a difference in the eyes of the security detail.

In fact, the main reason my wife Barbara and I did not register at Dillard's for our wedding was because of the stalking. Despite some embarrassment in certain family quarters, we registered at J.C. Penney. I didn't mind the chagrin, because even back in 1995 the stories of black shoppers (and weirdo white folks like me) getting harassed at Dillard's were common knowledge. No way in hell were those folks gonna profit off our happy event.

But despite the closer scrutiny, I've never been stopped in a store and questioned. I've never been searched. I've never been humiliated by some dweeb security guard. I just have a decent sense of when people are watching me excessively, and whenever I turn around in a Dillard's someone is standing nearby, staring at me. Now, if I'm with my wife, who has the advantage of appearing well-heeled, there is never a question. And even if they've been watching me like a hawk, no store has ever refused my check or credit card, even when I'm wearing truly dreadful clothes. I mean, there are certain perks to the club of whiteness, after all.

Another chain that tends to watch me more closely than others is Victoria's Secret. Now, my perception may be somewhat flawed, because it seems to me that all guys who enter that store get stared down a bit more than women, but maybe that slightly chilly reception is to make sure we're customers and not just guys out for a quick feel of women's underthings. Hard to say, really. I must admit that I probably haven't been in enough VS stores to make a statistically significant claim.

I've never figured out if the folks at Eddie Bauer or the Gap are merely overly friendly or are actually watching me excessively. Of course, since I never enter those places unless Barbara is dragging me with two hands, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Barbara could snag a thousand bucks worth of merchandise a day and no one would think to lay a hand on her.

It would be really nice to think that stores could treat all shoppers with the same amount of respect. And the thing is, I fit more general "criminal profile" categories than most black folks. Not that I'm a believer in profiles, as they generally identify every member of the human race in one way or another. Still, it almost makes sense that people watch what I do a bit more closely. I mean, I know folks who regularly shoplift. And while each and every one of them is a clean-cut, all-American white person (males and females in almost equal numbers), I do understand that stores should be on guard. Just don't let racism color the vision.

And that was really the point of the lawsuit. Dillard's claimed race had nothing to do with the actions of its employees. Yeah, right. Next thing they'll say is that racism had nothing to do with the beating of Reginald Denny. No, the actions aren't in the same ballpark in terms of seriousness (a blow to one's pride is never as harsh as a brick to the brain), but anyone who tries to rationalize either action as being race-neutral has lost the facility to reason. Big brother is even more annoying than we thought: He hasn't stopped at vindictive voyeurism, but has branched out into bigotry as well.

Of course, not all stores and shops are like the bastions of whitebread land that inhabit the malls of America. Dressing down and having long hair does bring at least one advantage: You get a free glass of wine (served in a Burger King Redskins glass, no less) at an art gallery in south Baltimore. A perk like that should always be greatly treasured.

Jon Worley is quite happy to live in an area where there are no Dillard's stores. Just things called The Bon Ton and Hecht's. So far, he hasn't noticed any undue surveillance.

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