Sunday, December 30, 2007

The real Race Merchants?

When I talk about dating different types of women, some people think that it’s bragging. I’m not. I do it to illustrate and compare and contrast the different and disrespectful treatment that these merchants seems to have for Black people in the area. I had another date with a White girl. She went into Bobby’s and paid with her credit card. What got me so enraged about this situation is that they didn’t ask her for I.D. Nor did they check her bag. Why is it that these merchants ask Black people for I.D and not White people? Why is it that they only ask for I.D in predominately Black areas? Apparently they are not required to ask for I.D if your card is signed in the back. They can compare the signature of the receipt with the signature on the back of the card. They may ask for ID if there is suspicion of fraud. Since they ask all Black people for I.D all the time and some White people some of the time, it is a Violation of your Civil Rights. From my understanding, Merchants may not refuse to honor a Card simply because the card holder refuses a request for supplementary information. The only exception is when a Card is unsigned when presented. However, "See ID" is not considered a valid signature. In these situations, a merchant must obtain authorization, review additional identification, and require the card holder to sign the card before completing a transaction. So is a merchant allowed to demand ID; they're not, unless the card is unsigned or says "See ID" as the signature. They are also not allowed to require a minimum payment for transactions. They do it because they have no respect for us. They think they can get away with it. It’s one of those subtle slights. They treat all Black customers as if we are criminals. Well I’m not a criminal. I refuse to go to any store that has bag checks or clerks behind bullet prove windows. It’s one of those stereotypical slights. You will not see this type of thing in White Neighborhoods. There is an unrealistic expectation that they should be suspicious of Black people. It’s one of those stereotype threats. It’s those types of actions that have made me less likely to shred a tear when these so called mom and pop stores are run out by Target. If these merchants have a Minimum payment requirement or I.D requirement you can file a Complaint online with Mastercard here.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Local stores have policies based on experience. Ask the managers why they do what they do. Meanwhile, merchants are not required to ask for ID from anyone.

Furthermore, any business can refuse to serve you and it is not necessary to give you a reason. If you refuse to show ID, the store can refuse to complete the transaction.

Meanwhile, don't shop at stores with security practices that offend you.

Also, though there is no law about minimum payments, a store can refuse to accept your card. Thus, if you object to the minimum payment, the cashier can simply say, sorry, that's store policy.

Anyway, you should get over it. This stuff happens to white shoppers every day.

Anonymous said...

I think you're reading too much into this. This was a singular incident. Perhaps if you went back to the store by yourself and tried to use a card without proper ID and were refused you could make more of a case here.

Your writing is interesting, but your generalizations and accusations of the actions of entire races are a little much at times.

Anonymous said...

Not according to the link he provided. I don't think merchants are allowed to have a minimum payment. They are not allowed to ask for ID if the card is signed. If they have a blanket policy that only pertains to Black areas then they might even be in hot waters with the federal and state laws. If you click on the link you will see the violations. This is very interesting. These are the following categories that can be checked alone with the online complaint form:

In order to make a MasterCard purchase, the merchant/retailer required a minimum or maximum amount.
The merchant/retailer is adding a charge for using your MasterCard card.
The merchant/retailer required identification.
A merchant/retailer displaying the MasterCard decal in their window refused to accept my MasterCard card.

Anonymous said...
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Therealflatbush said...

Please do not use any racial slurs.