John Henson – Melanoid Nation Foundation https://www.melanoidnation.org Wed, 21 Oct 2015 16:57:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.20 Black NBA Player Racially Profiled At Jewelry Store https://www.melanoidnation.org/black-nba-player-racially-profiled-at-jewelry-store/ https://www.melanoidnation.org/black-nba-player-racially-profiled-at-jewelry-store/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2015 16:57:43 +0000 http://melanoidnation.org/?p=2758 For starters, John Henson is a 6’11” young Black male who chose to shop at an upscale jewelry store in the Greater Milwaukee area. Based on the demographics of the area where his shopping trip took place on Monday (Whitefish Bay), it would be a safe bet to conclude that there aren’t many Melanoid people in the vicinity ost would automatically assume that he was either a professional athlete and/or a man of means. Contrary to conventional belief, the employees of Schwanke-Kasten had an opposing perception of Henson.

“They (workers of Schwanke-Kasten) locked the door and told me to go away. After I rang the doorbell twice everyone went to the back. No one answered the door or told me what was going on,” Henson wrote on his Instagram account that was later removed for some reason. Henson was followed by two police cars, which parked across the street and watched him for approximately 5 minutes.

After being interrogated about his reasons for being outside of the jewelry store, cops eventually explained to the store’s employees that “it was safe” for him to come into the store to look at a watch that he (Henson) wanted to see. “The employees finally came out of the back and proceeded to conduct business like they previously were as we walked up,” Henson wrote on the now deleted Instagram post.

The cops ran his license plates, and eventually the Milwaukee Bucks power forward was escorted inside the store by the officers.

According to a statement written by the store owner on Monday night, Henson’s vehicle was deemed “suspicious” because of the license plate, which was issued by the dealer.

Henson also wrote in the Instagram post that “This was one of the most degrading and racially prejudice things I’ve ever experienced in life and wouldn’t wish this on anyone. This store needs to be called out, and that’s what I’m doing.”

Here’s John Henson’s reaction to the situation.

B. Clark

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