Dear Editor,
In response to Kissoon’s Furniture Store Co-CEO, Nicholas Roberts `Race of a customer is never taken into consideration at Kissoon’s’ (SN May 15), I would like to make a few clarifications for clarity sake. I first must point out that Mr. Roberts, clearly does not understand what racism is and how it operates.
He is correct in stating that on the afternoon of May 13th, I left a public review on their Facebook page. They would send me a Facebook message later on that night (way past my bedtime) asking what was my experience that made me feel that way. I responded to them via Facebook on the day of May 14th by forwarding my letter https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/05/14/opinion/letters/attack-on-my-dignity-while-shopping-at-kissoons-furniture-store/. While I noticed they did see my response, I have received no follow up response from them aside from the letter to the Editor Mr. Roberts wrote.
Editor, I must say once again that I was not the only customer being served at the time, so I witnessed first hand how other customers were treated and no one got the scrutiny and attention to details on their bill that I did. Is it that this scrutiny is applied selectively? I would be inclined to believe so and yes, I do know race has a very large part to play in it. I know many of my beloved Guyanese brothers and sisters are not conscious of what racism is and it certainly is not my place to educate them, so I won’t go into Mr. Roberts’ point that I never provided evidence of racism. I wish we could all be a little more conscious of race though and conscious of how we perpetuate racist behaviours and beliefs daily whether we recognize it or not. I wish we could be conscious also of how having Afro-Guyanese employees does not remove us or them from exhibiting and practising racism through preferential treatment and/or slights.
Regarding the complimentary products that were given as a token of their appreciation for my business…this was quite grand to read. One of the sales girls who upon noting that I wanted sets of beds, told me and I quote “I know you did not ask for a discount but I’m going to give you a $4000 discount which you can take in pillows.” Mind you, this was before the entire ordeal of having them painstakingly draw up my bill and the embarrassment of being treated as if I was a thief.
I am not certain what insinuations Mr. Roberts is trying to make regarding the timeline of my letter but I am a cautious person and I like to think things through. I must say though, that on the very same day of the embarrassing racial profiling I experienced at Kissoon’s, I reached out to a group of black women who I trust and respect to ask about their experiences shopping while black in Guyana and would let them know of the experience I suffered earlier that day. I was not surprised that everyone had a story, whether it was here or abroad, these are experiences afro-descendants face daily. I was advised to write a letter (which I did) and to return my items to the store and demand a refund, which I did on May 15th and received said refund.
I am always tickled when people who aren’t race conscious seek to distance themselves from ethnicity by putting on a veil of multi-ethnic unity. It is a shallow and performative practice that can be seen through quite clearly as the experiences on the ground say different. I genuinely did and still do hope that Kissoon’s and other Indian and Chinese- owned stores can remove themselves from their bubbles of privilege for once and seek out concepts of understanding and growth as it relates to race relations with Afro-Guyanese. Even before Mr. Roberts’ letter however, I knew this possibility was slim. Further, I say not.
Yours faithfully,
Akola Thompson
