A 22-year-old man named Jordan McDowell was apparently too black and too arrogant while merely buying a few packs of candies when an Allsup’s store clerk decided to call the police on him.
Mr. McDowell is a college student from the Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana who decided to visit Santa Fe, New Mexico during the summer vacation and to attend a class.
The young man had a trip he will not soon forget. Talking to local media, McDowell said he paid for some Sour Patch Kids at an Allsup’s store, and while he was looking at other sweets, the female clerk called the police and told them this: “And I want him out of the store right now. Because he’s being arrogant because he’s black.”
McDowell, who recorded the sad incident, could be heard defending himself by saying: “Oh, so I’m arrogant because I’m black?”
The college student said he was angered by the words he heard used to describe him and added that he is not surprised because he is aware that racism is alive and well in America.
He stated: “There’s nothing right about this, there’s nothing right to call the police on someone just because of their skin tone. I just want everyone to know you still have a voice, you can speak up, you still can do your part, and that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
The officers, who arrived at the scene, spoke with both McDowell and the woman but decided not to file a police report.
A Santa Fe Police Department spokesman said McDowell was not arrested “because he didn’t break any laws.”
The clerk lied to the journalist reporting on the matter and said she had never mentioned McDowell’s race to the cops and when she was presented with a video proving otherwise, she went silent.
Allsup’s corporate offices have not commented on the matter.
McDowell is currently in Santa Fe studying Native American culture as part of a summer class.
