Racial profiling

My friends and I went to Mr Price Home Potchefstroom last week Friday (8 September 2017). We went to go buy ornaments, wine glasses and a quote canvas. We first bought wine glasses, left and then came back.

As we were by the till we paid for our stuff and we were about to leave, I noticed that 2 white women who were obviously in a management position were standing at the entrance with smirks on their faces. We tried to leave but the women said they wanted to search us. So imagine how we were paraded to the office and to quote the one woman's words "to search you professionally" I felt offended and violated, like we bought our stuff we had proof (receipts) that we didn't *****. I noticed that other people were not stopped and that we were the chosen ones. In the office I kept on telling the other lady that I feel offended and that I feel violated and she brushed it off...I then asked her why us, who gave her this intel and again it was a joke!

After to their disappointment when they were searching us, we didn't even get an apology instead we had to walk out feeling like victims of racial profiling and also having all eyes on us, as if to say we can't afford Mr Price Home, we should've never set foot.

What will always be embedded in my mind is the whole scene, how the management made us to feel our skin colour and how we were treated as a stereotype, it was a traumatic experience and I don't even want to set foot in any Mr Price Home after this whole experience.

I am traumatised as I can never understand the excitement the women had as if to say "hey look we got them" meanwhile they don't know the effects that racial profiling has, I only see racial profiling on tv but never in a million years did I feel like I would be a victim in a shop that I used to love, owing to my melanin.

I am truly and utterly disgusted by the treatment I received!