After reports from three Black women in the Linn–Benton area about apparent racial profiling in Fred Meyer stores, in addition to reports of on-the-job racism, the Linn–Benton NAACP is holding a protest march in Corvallis on Saturday, March 12, beginning at noon.
A Black woman from Albany had a check turned away from both the Corvallis and Albany Fred Meyer until her white husband presented the same check.
In Corvallis, another Black woman has been repeatedly closely monitored while using the self-checkout registers. This woman also claims that her treatment in the store seems to be directly determined by whether or not her white mother is with her and by how her hair is styled – worse treatment coming with more ethnic hair styles.
A third Black woman claims to have consistently been racially profiled by Fred Meyer stores throughout her lifetime living in Oregon.
A History of Racism
In 2020, a former Black Fred Meyer employee claimed he was fired for reporting on-the-job racism. He relayed accounts of name-calling and backlash when he wore a hoodie – normal attire for his white co-workers. He filed a lawsuit against the company.
Also in 2020, a Portland woman was called a racist slur by a Fred Meyer employee. She also has filed a lawsuit.
In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Fred Meyer violated the law by not allowing employees to wear Black Lives Matter buttons and masks.
Taking a Stand
In response to these accounts, the Linn Benton NAACP will meet up at 12:00 p.m. in Franklin Square Park in Corvallis, located in the 15th and 16th street blocks between Polk and Taylor. They will then march to the Corvallis Fred Meyer, located at 777 NW Kings Blvd. The group will “present a list of demands that includes a timeline for action to change and add to store policies.”
Please dress in black.
The list of demands read:
No. 1 – Fred Meyer must publicly apologize to all persons offended by the offensive behavior of the Fred Meyer staff and publicly commit to adopting a nondiscriminatory approach to customer service. These actions should be completed no later than Wednesday, March 16.
No. 2 – Fred Meyer’s local and regional management will request to meet with the President of the Linn Benton NAACP to further discuss the issue of discrimination at Fred Meyer. This action should occur no later than Wednesday, April 6.
No. 3 – Fred Meyer must retain a local equity, diversity, and inclusion consultant and/or organization to facilitate required workshops for shift managers and regional managers concerning bias, equity, and inclusion. This action should be completed no later than Wednesday, June 1.
No. 4 – Fred Meyer must design a customer-facing protocol for shoppers to report discrimination, provide quarterly reports of the findings to local newspapers, and display the quarterly reports on Fred Meyer’s website.
“It is our hope that Fred Meyer genuinely acknowledges the centuries of harm that have caused members of our beloved community not to have positive experiences while shopping in their stores. As an organization, our intentions are not simply to raise awareness around past and present issues of inequities that occur at Fred Meyer but to situate ourselves as collaborative partners to help provide measurable action-oriented solutions that are best practices to address inequitable business and customer service issues that are happening in our own backyard. We are asking that our local and small business community members, partnering organizations, all Fred Meyer patrons, and members of our community that cares about all members of our community join us and dress in all black attire as a symbol of solidarity,” said the Linn Benton NAACP activist coordinator.”
For more information, visit https://linnbentonnaacp.com/End-Racism-Fred-Meyer..
We reached out to Fred Meyer for comment. At press time, they had not returned our call.
By Sally K Lehman
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