We can’t remember a debut column raising more hackles than “Why I don’t wear red at Target” (March 14), the first installment of Erica Dawson’s “Dark & Sinful.” Many readers took issue with the column’s premise — or maybe it was just the headline. One reader —“Emma Bovary” no less (we so rarely get correspondence from fictional French heroines) — objected not only to the column but to the editor’s introduction. Check out the comments below, then go check out the second installment of “Dark & Sinful” here. Greg Gumbel fans, get ready to rumble.
As someone who has made the mistake of wearing a red shirt to Target, I’m pretty sure the prejudice applies to your shirt, not your skin color. Sincerely, A white guy who also wore a blue shirt and khaki pants to Best Buy one time. —Billy
Get a Life, it’s not your color it’s the shirt. —Wm North
Yeah I pretty much target anyone wearing red at target. I’ve been embarrassed more than once by doing this. —Betty Jane Chitty
I was asked directions once…why did they pick me? i haven’t been able to look at my gps ever since…. —pltctytc
I’ve been asked if I was undercover security by fellow customers on more than one occasion. No sir or ma’am, I am just stiff awkward and white. 🙂 —Dave
I never thought “can’t see the forest for the trees” was a useful saying until I read these comments. If one had read past the headline and first line, he or she would have read “When you’re black, lots of people want you to be at work, no matter where you are,” and “This is what I call everyday racism.” Maybe we can try to make empathy a little easier. Maybe we could just be less of a douchebag to one another. —DontCallMeScotty
just say, “i am sorry, but i don’t work here.”, simmer a few seconds and move on. i can’t understand how you feel, but i do know it is usually better to just forget about someone elses stupidity or momentary lapse of thoughtfulness. —jan
Take this for what it is worth: I get asked where things are at every store I shop in. Has to do with looking competent and nothing else. Why search out deeper meanings? The only person upset about it is you. And this is wearing street clothes at stores with no uniforms. and I am not African American, I’m boring caucasian. —Lynne
*Sigh* I was extremely leery of reading this new column due to Mr. Warner’s introduction of Ms. Dawson that was drenched in exoticism. He repeatedly describes her as the “tallest,” “blackest” human in Tampa who is going to give us the reader a bird’s eye view of sex and race. (Exotic and erotic, anyone?) I thought Ms. Dawson might be able to overcome this abysmal intro, but her first foray into column work was disappointing at best. Everyday racism is alive and well, unfortunately, but she chooses to crucify some hapless consumer because they mistook her for a Target employee (when she was wearing what is widely recognized as the de rigeur Target uniform.) As the comments to this article suggest, this would happen to anyone. Ms. Dawson just comes off as extremely hypersensitive. The real issue of interest is the incident at the writer’s conference. What was the context of the incident? Who was this person? Did someone else experience this with you? Why did no one say anything? You have the perfect platform to expose racism in academia. Why are you wasting words on this nonsense? If you’re going to go the sex and race route, you have so much you can work with: dating, relationships, sex—your experiences as an African-American woman, what pressures you feel, power politics, interracial dating. If this first column is the extent of the subject matter, I think I’ll pass. —Emma Bovary
Let’s make everything a racial issue shall we? I’m white, but every time I go into a Best buy or a target with a Polo shirt on people think I work there. It has to do with the shirt not the race. —Me Too
The premise of this article is incomprehensible. So wearing red at Target somehow exposes this thick underlying racism? A sentiment you are obviously already convinced exists? Very scientific. This is nothing more than a woefull attempt to blame your self-esteem issues and chip-on-your-shoulder disposition on the rest of the world. Specifically the whites. You make no logical connection between your facts and your points. Your hate and disdain for the rest of the world around you is clear. This is so much the case, I doubt you even realize how rediculous you sound. It sounds like you don’t like yourself or your teaching job. Maybe you should apply to Target; I heard it’s not a bad place to work. —Jessica Morino
This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.