She was told she was “a threat.” She was making other customers uncomfortable, but 40-year-old Kenya Moore said she’s still trying to piece together the events that led her to leave a northern Colorado outdoor store on Friday after a discussion with the store employee.
Kenya Hodges, who posted a video of the exchange with a manager of Jax’s in Loveland to her TikTok account under the title “racism at its finest,” says she had never encountered such blatant racial profiling.
“I’m a threat because I was enjoying my time shopping by dancing – however I was accused of singing and talking on the phone as well which somehow poses a threat and the need to have the cops called … y’all just watch and see how she changes her tone once I tell her I was recording and going to post on Social Media – this is real life and it really is unfortunate,” Hodges, 40, wrote alongside her video.
The incident that started the conversation between the woman and the store manager was not recorded, forcing observers to take the involved parties at their word. Hodges said she was trying on a hat, taking pictures of it to post on her social media accounts, when a security guard approached her, asked if she was OK then left. Hodges said she was dancing to her music, as she often does.
A few minutes later, the guard returns with a woman who appears to be a store manager. Hodges said she asked her to sit down and told her she was in the way of other customers.
“There was no one else around,” Hodges recalled to Atlanta Black Star in an interview. She no longer felt comfortable and was no longer interested in buying the hat she had tried on.
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to store management for comment.
“People posting a negative review of a store that they’ve only heard one side of the story. Show the video, then have an opinion,” wrote one woman.
Another viewer wanted proof “that people were actually threatened, “or did the employee not like her.”
According to the manager, customers had complained about Hodges allegedly singing, dancing and talking loudly on her phone inside the store. (Hodges says she was only dancing.) She later heard the manager refer to her as a “threat” and decided at that point to leave on her own accord.
“So being happy is a crime now? Lord!” questioned one viewer.
The manager, who appears nervous about the encounter, “couldn’t even articulate what the problem was,” noted another viewer.
“Black joy irritates some people,” concluded another viewer.
The manager told Hodges she did not feel threatened by her.
“You were standing there dancing and singing, they wanted to shop,” she told her.
“They felt threatened … I don’t know,” the manager said.
The shopper sought clarification about how exactly she was “a threat.”
The manager told her she was welcome back into the store, “as long as you don’t cause problems.”
“As people of color, this is an everyday thing,” one viewer commented on the video.
Many commenters suggested Hodges hire an attorney, saying she was discriminated against by Jax.
Hodges said she is leaving her options open.
“If people don’t speak up, it’ll keep on happening,” she said.
