Louis Gray says he was racially profiled after trying to buy spray paint to make over his son’s bicycle helmet

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    You need Id to buy spray? What kind of stupid shit is that? How would they know it was you even if they have your id? It seems like they’d just go after all the black people who bought spray when something gets vandalized.

    What a stupid country you live in, I can’t imagine getting carded for buying art supplies. If you’re worried it’s gonna be used for crime, don’t sell it.

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Yeah! Why do you need ID to buy a canister of pressurized flammable gas that can also get you high?

      When I worked retail, we were required to ID for gas dusters as well. We also had people come in and request that we put members of their family on a “No sell” list for gas dusters too. That was always sad.

    • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      You bring up a valid point that I never thought about.

      I always needed ID to buy spray paint - I’m also brown. I was into graffiti (not the tagging but the social rights kind) and my after school program taught it.

      Makes me wonder if all this time, it was discrimination.

      • Fondots@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        FWIW, I’m about as white as they come, and I’ve probably been carded more in my lifetime to buy spray paint than I have for alcohol.

        It’s pretty standard practice in my area. Maybe it’s different in other places, or from one store to another, but most places around me seem to err on the side of carding everyone.