I am launching this open letter and petition in the defense of black, brown, poor, unhoused, and disabled people not just in my community but in communities across this country that are disproportionately and negatively impacted by bag policy enforcement practices. I have lost count of the number of times I have been confronted and accused of having the intention or potential to steal. These experiences have accumulated within me a sense of apprehension and fear to go out into the world and participate in society. To be made to feel this way is not only dehumanizing but discriminatory as well. 

Many innocent hard working people in this country are not fortunate enough to own personal vehicles. The alternatives they are left with are to either carry their belongings with them or leave them at home, if they even have homes to leave them in at all. Their other option is to surrender them to staff that are assuming they might be using their bags or backpacks for theft and not out of necessity. People who are more financially fortunate have the luxury of cluttering their cars with their possessions while they stop into a store or business. Entire communities carry their livelihoods on their backs every day in this city and this country and not a single one of them should be made to feel suspicious or singled out for doing so.

We are taught as children in this country to fight for liberty and justice for all, not just for those who are white, financially stable, housed, or able-bodied. That is what I am doing in launching this petition. I am demanding that the bag policy and its enforcement be abolished within the Opportunity Village organization and that it be replaced with alternative loss prevention methods that do not rely heavily and historically upon the discrimination and false accusation of marginalized members of society. Not long ago many business owners created policies that in their mind would prevent theft and maintain order in their stores or restaurants. In reality they were refusing black people entry and directing them to signs that stated ‘No Blacks Allowed’. Modern day bag policy enforcement is simply an evolution of the archaic and discriminatory rules and policies of our country's racist past. To continue to participate in prejudicial policy enforcement is to be complicit in the harm and shame it brings up on the people of my community. 

In researching the Opportunity Village senior staff I learned that only one black person holds a high ranking position, working in risk management for the organization. The rest of the decision makers and leaders are white men and women. Who are they to tell a black person what is and is not discrimination? Who are they to target innocent black, brown, disabled, poor, or unhoused people? Their response to this should have been immediate and substantial. Instead I have been met with ignorance, insufficient excuses, and a lack of urgency that reeks of guilt. I requested that their bag policy enforcement be carefully reviewed to address my concerns with a pattern of prejudice and my request was overlooked and ignored. I was told the footage of my experience was reviewed and the assistant manager who confronted me regarding my bag had done nothing wrong. 

For a white person who has never been on the receiving end of racism, discrimination, or prejudice to immediately dismiss my complaint is not surprising but it is unacceptable. That is why I am calling on the public to share their frustration with these policies and their discriminatory enforcement as well. Amy Hunter, their current VP of Human Resources has been everything but helpful or empathetic in my attempts to address the prejudice I personally experienced. I encourage anyone reading this to reach out to her at hrservices@opportunityvillage.org to express your concerns with their discriminatory bag policy enforcement, as well as your support for the black, brown, disabled, unhoused, and low income members of your community that deserve to feel as safe as anyone else to shop in peace without persecution. 

I am also urging the Opportunity Village CEO Bob Brown to work harder for his more than 450 thousand dollar estimated salary to address these legitimate concerns of discrimination under his leadership. For a white man with more money than most will ever earn to be not just comfortable but confident in the prejudicial enforcement of bag policy within his organization is not necessarily a shock to anyone. Men and women like him have actively and openly participated in discrimination like this for years. They believe because their policy applies to more than one group it cannot possibly be deemed discriminatory. This logic is flawed and soulless. It should be even more concerning that it not only affects black people, but people of all races who may be experiencing financial hardship, housing instability, or disability.

That is why I strongly encourage Opportunity Village to do what they know is right and to replace their existing discriminatory bag policy enforcement with alternatives that do not make innocent people into immediate suspects for crimes they never intended to commit. These alternatives include increasing or replacing staff and training to better address internal bias and potential discrimination. This also includes hiring loss prevention teams who are educated on how to properly address potential theft and individuals they may wrongfully deem suspicious.

Many stores thrive without these discriminatory bag policies. They are not essential, they are optional and the choice to continue enforcing them is a choice to participate in prejudice and racism. Potential loss of profit cannot be put before a human being’s ability to be free within society from restrictions that are oppressive; imposed by people abusing their authority. That is the very definition of liberty and it ought to be embraced and not suppressed through racist, ableist, xenophobic, and ultimately discriminatory bag policy enforcement.