I am badly in need of my Korean aunt!
I need Sue to serve as my interpreter. I need to know why her fellow Korean expatriates felt a need to follow me throughout the store as if I was a ruffian, a fugitive, a parolee, or some unsavory character in a murder-for-hire plot.
Sue, why is this the customary treatment Koreans give to black folks when we walk into their stores?
Sue, do white folks get the same “Peeping Tom” treatment? If not, why not?
Sue, why are Koreans so suspicious of black folks and immediately put us under surveillance when entering their shops?
Sue, where did this negative and false indoctrination against black folks begin—–in Korea or in America?
Sue, who fed your fellow Koreans lies, rumors, and stereotypes about us?
Sue, are Koreans aware that “profiling” blacks without cause is disrespectful, discriminatory, insensitive, insulting, and unjustifiable?
Sue, if Koreans open stores in black communities, why don’t they live in the area, too? Or, why don’t they hire blacks especially since over 95% of their clientele is African-American?
Sue, should I infer that regardless of the economic status of the neighborhood, Koreans “brand” all blacks as deadbeats, thieves, thugs, losers, and welfare recipients?
Sue, why do Koreans have a “hair-trigger” reaction to blacks without provocation?
Sue, if you accompany me into the Koreans’ stores, will that make a difference in how I am treated? And, once the Korean merchants learn that we are f-a-m-i-l-y, will I gain total acceptance?
Sue, if the aforementioned truly reflects how Koreans feel about blacks, then why do they locate their businesses within the black neighborhoods?
And, Sue, why do Koreans open businesses that either specialize in black products and black services yet treat us like a “black plague?
So, continuing my shopping experience…
Seconds after entering the store, I immediately got a creepy sensation. It felt as though a bogeyman, a sinister shadow, or a predatory animal was, not only lurking over me, but was in lockstep with every freaking move I made!
Then, I discovered…
Glancing over my shoulder, it was painfully obvious that there were several Koreans, tactically positioned at every angle within the store, clandestinely crouching—looking—peeking—watching—spying—staring—gazing—straining—peeping—gawking—leering—ogling—glaring and observing me as though I was at the demilitarize zone in North Korea!
Are you telling me that my “black” skin elicited that much parasitic hullabaloo just for a $1.49 comb?
What happened to innocent before proven guilty?
Oops—-I failed to mention that security cameras were also strategically plastered throughout the store, along with 15 inches of burglar bars that were bolted on the windows and doors, and anti-theft monitors which were present at the front entrance and exit of the store, as well as, security devices which were attached to the merchandise!
Makes me wanna holla!
Oops—-I failed to mention that my neighborhood is in the much “desired” part of town where the “bourgeoisie” people reside—-to include the mayor, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, pilots, and NFL players who inhabit homes from the $400,000 price tag to mansions valued in the millions and millions of dollars!
Hmm, not exactly a ghetto!
So, what’s the recommended solution, Andrea?
Don’t expect me to have a “hissy fit.”
Instead, this black woman will take her black a** to black businesses!
Enuff said!
