Six black teenagers were kicked out of Water Tower Place mall in Chicago on March 3 and banned for life. They did nothing wrong but the excuse that security had for racially profiling them was for loitering.
Dr. Carla Hightower was one of the witnesses of security escorting the teens out and knew that they didn’t do anything wrong.
“They stood out because they looked so good,” said Hightower. (Via Chicago Sun-Times) “There were a large number of them, and they were so stylish, calm and mature.”
She went on to say that the security guard walking them out told her that they don’t even know what the teens did wrong. Excuses contiued to be made for the racial profiling of these teens as security then went on to say that they were chasing girls.
Kevin Berry, executive vice president of human resources and communications for General Growth Properties who owns Water Tower Place, gave a public apology to the boys on Hightower’s podcast.
“I wasn’t there, I just hope it wasn’t,” said Berry. “But the fact that they were expelled from the property and told to get out and never come back was not only unprofessional but is completely wrong.
Water Tower Place is a very expensive and high-end mall and the trend of profiling black men at these stores sadly continues. While this mall will try to improve its image after this incident, we all know they will continue to look at black men the same way they did when they kicked those six boys out.