Report: John Henson Racially Profiled at Jewelry Store
Former Tar Heel John Henson is 6’10” inches tall and African American. He also drives a nice car provided to him by an endorsement deal. Do these two things alone make him a suspicious character?
Evidently someone thinks so. Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin kept Henson out of the store until police came and hassled him first.
Henson was in the market for a new watch. He decided to look for one at the aforementioned jewelry store. Henson claims this was during regular business hours. However he found the door locked and ringing the door bell did not get anyone to come open the door for him. Instead the police showed up and began questioning Henson about why he was there and where the car had come from. Suddenly Henson’s car had become a plot point.
In fact the police spent more time investigating the car. Henson told them the origin. My guess is that they had seen his ID at this point. They should have known it was John Henson of the Milwaukee Bucks. Yet the police ran the plates of the vehicle, and Henson claims on Instagram that they were not necessarily satisfied when the car checked out.
Finally the police and the store let Henson in. I am not sure if I would have stayed to do business there if I was Henson, but Henson evidently stuck around long enough to interact ‘normally’ with store personnel. Henson’s account suggests that he was not alone on this trip, but does not identify his companion was if any. That would not change the circumstances much. Henson’s Instagram post then went on to request people boycott the business.
This action by the store seems inappropriate at best and bigoted at worst. Henson is a big guy, but not a mountain of one. I am also not sure what to make of the police response. I have to believe that they were just responding to a stupid call, but how did they make the jump to ‘stolen car?’ Did the jewelry store people suggest the car was stolen or did the two cops make up their minds about this after they got there?
I feel awful when things like this happen, because my first thought is we should be past this, better than this. Clearly we are not.