On the 24th March 2023, I went to the vet to collect some medication for my cat and decided to pop into the Aldi en route home to purchase some batteries for the cat flap. I generally will go there for batteries, black bags, water and the like.
I entered an Aldi store in East Anglia at about 7.15pm. Picked up a basket. Browsed the aisles. Picked up some items. Wet wipes, freshener, chocolates, batteries. Then went to the till to pay. I stood in line purchased these goods then went to the packing section to put them into my shopping bag. As I started to walk towards the exit, a white woman in her late twenties, mousey coloured pony tail, approached me and asked to search my bag. Her name is Abi/Abigail. Next to her was an Asian security guard. I handed my handbag to the guard without complaint. After all, there was nothing in there apart from my personal belongings.
I turned to the deputy manageress and asked if there was a problem. She responded that the problem was that I was a "thief and shoplifter and had already been banned by this store and [I] was aware of this". I told her that I have never been banned from any store, was not a shoplifter, and that she had the wrong person. Her face contorted with contempt as she told me that I was the right person, and in, fact, I was even wearing the same green coat. I again told her she was mistaken and asked for an apology. She stated that she "would not be apologising to me". I started to cry. She smirked and then said I was "making her uncomfortable and [she] wanted me to leave her store".
I left and the security guard who had checked my bag followed me - to apologise. He stated that he "knew that I was not a shoplifter as [I] did not fit their profile" and he knew that I had stolen nothing from the store but that this deputy manageress had decided to target me from the moment that I entered the store. He re-stated that I did not fit their shoplifter shop profile. My phone was in my hand and I could not believe the frankness of what he was saying to me and began to record him - for fifteen minutes. I know as many minoritised people do that if we encounter racism we are told it is not happening, or that we are lying. We are in an unenviable position of it being our word against the other party and we’re rarely believed.
He stated during this recorded conversation that:
-The deputy manageress has decided to target me the moment I walked through the door and picked up a basket even though he told her that he believed her to be wrongly targeting me.
-That he had tried on several occasions to dissuade the deputy manageress from targeting me but she was set on a course of action.
-That even as I was at the till waiting to pay, she still accused me of shoplifting.
- That even after she saw me paying she still wanted my bags turned out PUBLICLY. - That the reason she did all of this was his quote - the fact that "definitely 80% because you are Black". He stated that there was no circumstance in which she would not regard me as a shoplifter even if she saw the photo of the actual shoplifter (if indeed there was a shoplifter) and that even if the photo looked different, she would still consider me to be a thief.
- He stated that the staff at this Aldi store discriminated against the Asian employees and that it was bad, but there was nothing they could do, so they had to tolerate it.
When I returned home that evening - I was in deep distress. This had never happened to me before. I have never been stopped in any store, nor been accused of shoplifting. I phoned Aldi on Saturday 25th March and got through to a South African call centre and they promised to ring back but did not do so. I eventually found a number for Aldi headquarters and the Area Manager for Aldi rang me. He suggested antiracism training and an apology from the woman. I told him the apology ship had now sailed and that research shows that anti racism training is ineffective. There may very well have been a Black female shoplifter wearing a green coat. I do not know. I am not a shoplifter. Maybe there was NEVER a Black, female shoplifter with short hair and a green coat in that store.
I have been left scared of going into many supermarkets and stick to ones where I know the staff and have chatted with them before. I am scared of wearing my green coat which she used as a pretext to search my bag (the security guard told me this was an excuse). I have spoken with SIA security guards at two other stores I was told by one head of security that:
-This search should never have been done in public but in a private room and the aim was, therefore, to humiliate me which she accomplished.
- That racism was a key factor given I was being followed through this store (unbeknownst to me) and they saw I had not shoplifted. Moreover, if I was truly banned they would have stopped me from entering the store completely the moment I picked up a basket.
- That they should have checked the image of the banned shoplifter (if there was one) before approaching me (banned shoplifters are made to hold a piece of paper apparently with their name on and the fact they're banned and a shoplifter - the Head of security at another store told me this - no such photo exists for me as I have never been banned from any store as I am not a shoplifter. I pay for my goods.).
-The Head of security (who is white) also told me that the majority of shoplifters are not Black and looking at online police crime stats for various regions of the UK, this is in fact the case.
Aldi has decided to support the white Deputy Manageress. They say she is not racist and did nothing wrong. The Area Manager also denied saying to me that he would put this woman on anti-racism training - the problem is I recorded the call where he did state this. It seems that lies run deep and wide with this company.
In their written response to me they ignored the recording I made with the security guard where he states that I was targeted by the deputy manageress Abi because I am Black, and the part where the guard states that the store was racist towards its own Asian employees.
I stated in my response to them (and in my phone call today to the Area Manager) the following:
1) It appears that the experience of not just me but other Black shoppers in that store plus the voiced objections of an Asian security guard have been devalued in favour of the lies of a Caucasian Deputy Manageress.
2) I questioned why if it was a case of mistaken identity does he simultaneously say that there will be an internal investigation with the matter being taken very seriously? So what is going to be taken very seriously? Mistaken identity? Really? Or racism? But it cannot be racism can it, they just told me she isn't racist - it was mistaken identity. They hold internal investigations over "mistaken identity?
3) I outlined that in all of my years on this earth, I have yet to come across a single person who ever admits to being racist - even when they are caught on camera being racist and end up in court. Racism is not simply slurs and fists -this is not how it mostly manifests in the UK which is why my recording of what was said was so important - but even with the recording, Aldi would still rather support a racist, be exposed in a paper and be sued, then simply sack her.
4) I outlined that it had come to light she had targeted other Black shoppers. She called the police on a teacher for taking an empty shopping trolley. I was sent the CCTV by the person involved and simply could not believe it. Abi absolutely targeted this woman who was innocently shopping. When the police arrived she then burst into tears and pretended she had been intimidated (this strategy often works - it did not with the police). Abi then imposed nationwide, lifetime bans on not just this shopper (it was later overturned) but other Black shoppers (who tried to intervene to calm this manageress down as she was acting in an unregulated and irrational manner). When a complaint was submitted, Aldi supported Abi AGAIN.
5) I asked the Area Manager why he would propose anti-racism training for a person if they were not racist? He has since denied saying this. He said "I said I would implement this training IF she was found to be racist" (I recorded him - he never said this)
6) I asked the Area Manager why he never provided an explanation as to why a so-called "banned shopper" was allowed to enter the store, pick up a basket, browse the aisles and pay - before being approached. The answer is that she knew I was not banned and simply (as the security guard said) wanted to target a Black person. The Area Manager pretended that this Deputy Manageress did not want to approach me at the door to tell me I was banned as she did not want to make a scene. Really? So she thought it would be more effective to make a scene when I concluded my shopping humiliating me in front of lots of shoppers? Each and every time this woman has targeted a Black shopper, and a Black or Asian security guard has been reticent in wanting to follow the instructions of this Abi woman (as they knew she was being racist), the security guard has been let go/sacked and she has been allowed to remain.
7) The Area Manager wanted to give me shopping vouchers for a store that is not my supermarket anyway, and for a store I'd never go into again. I have refused. I would never set foot back into another Aldi again because they have introduced spot-checks and these spot-checks will disproportionately impact Black and Asian people (even though statistically we do not make up the majority of shoplifters) - and so I have to expect to be accosted again. He provided no guarantee that I would not be targeted again by this woman or by any other Aldi store.
I am going to urge Black and Asian shoppers not to visit Aldi stores. Aldi supports racism by denying it even takes place even in the face of evidence.