Washington Wizards GM Will Dawkins racially profiled at Saks Fifth Avenue | Brother From Another

Washington Wizards GM Will Dawkins racially profiled at Saks Fifth Avenue | Brother From Another

over the weekend uh I texted Mark Spears after reading an incredible story in andscape and incredible not because uh the circumstances made you feel great about Society incredible because the story uh was being told in a compelling way as most Mark spear stories are and the aftermath of turning a a negative event into a positive one Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins uh racially profiled by a sax fth Avenue security guard who was assisted by the Miami Police Department and Will Dawkins uh told his story to Mark Spears I told you a Hall of Famer was joining us here’s Hall of Famer Hall of Fame basketball writer Hall of Fame basketball contributor Mark Spears and Mark I’m just going to tell you this man I I’ve had you I’ve invited you to my classes at be before it didn’t work out we had a technical difficulty that day but the reason I invited you that day is your reporting experience and your ability to interview I think you are one of the best interviewers in America because you get people to tell you listen and you get people to tell their stories in ways that a lot of people can’t get them to relax and open up and I think this is a prime example of it uh this will talking story man it it just really hit me in so many ways especially when you quoted will saying his mother told him this story didn’t happen to you it happened for you so for you to tell your story what what did you what did you think when you first heard about this and and was there any was there any hesitation by Dawkins to be as open with you as he was um well when I when I first heard it I I think it’s just a reminder to uh African-American community and a lot of people of color uh that doesn’t matter how much success you have doesn’t have matter how much money you have uh he could face racial discrimination on any day and you know the man was basically mining his own business bought a shirt had the receipt had the shirt and still got you know damn near tackled um by the sax Fifth Avenue security guard and a Miami police officer and you know who once they looked at surveillance he didn’t even look like the guy that’s the thing I I wish I had a picture of the guy uh but it it it’s it’s got to be disheartening because you know any time he walks into a store now you can’t help but think about what happened um and it’s uh it’s it’s really really sad because you know but because of what his mother said which I think was eloquent I think he realized that by him telling his story maybe it helped somebody else by him telling his story maybe there’s another store that uh changes the way that they look at things um I had a similar incident not as bad as his but a racially profiling instant with some friends in Hillsburg California last year and while that store didn’t do nothing to change anything the city did you know made some uh changes so I think that’s what he was thinking because if you think about it will could have sued Sachs could sued he could have made a lot of money but instead of doing that he decided to um raise some money for charity he didn’t ask for a penny he asked them to change their policies and uh you know work together and instead of you know making this a big fight and there there’s a lot of people that wouldn’t have been you know so you know gracious and and such a a terror to help others instead of helping himself and that says a lot about his character even in the midst of a bunch of um pain yeah Mark that was the thing that struck me when I was reading the story was that you know and I know and I know will a little bit you know just very m mannered very you know professional very you know upstanding you know in his approach and how he handles things Mark I’m I’m curious because of the grace that he showed what were his emotions like when you talk to him because we are clearly when he incident happened with a few months removed or several months removed from him but those things stick with you so was there still anger and frustration there or was there other emotions that you could sort of convey when you talk to him yeah no I you know I think he he said I asked him did you stop going to malls you stop going to stores he’s like I like shopping too much I had to get over it but but he you know he said for a while and even from time to time now he still looks behind his back checks his surroundings make sure he’s okay U I don’t think that goes away it doesn’t um it’s going to stick with him and so no he he uh he’s having some from time to time you get that pain you get that anger um the fact that somebody would grab you like that didn’t identify themsel and that security guard had since been you know released of his duties I think he knew that night uh according to will that he probably was about to lose his job in fact the Miami police after he told him who he was they Googled him and will said they uh took ex stage right like like we ain’t getting involved in this you’re on your own uh sax dude you know so no I don’t I I think he has has his moments but having this uh collaboration with saxs Fifth Avenue and I give him credit for this you know they made he wouldn’t tell me how much it was but they made sizable donations to three different places and they retrain their security guards and if one of their security guards messes up they’re going to retrain them again perhaps if there was something I was a little disappointed in or I I didn’t ask will this was why didn’t they make this policy throughout the country instead of just this one store right perhaps they should have retrained everybody throughout the country um so I think that’s where perhaps sax was you know could could have done much more but in in terms of being accountable apologizing uh making sizable donations I I give sex credit for basically being upfront about being wrong you know what uh fellas I I I didn’t major in Psychology at all and maybe a fews are you minored you minored in it yeah I’m minored in it well well you tell me this you tell me if my my uh my theory if it has any weight listen well okay Hey listen we we’ll we’ll figure it out on TV we’ll solve I didn’t major in I didn’t major in basketball either I talk about it all the time you know so um but I have this Theory tell me if it holds weight I think you see a lot you see great examples of self-hatred and classism in a lot of high-end luxury stores from security personnel and from the people who are who who some of the salespeople because look man you’re going into the store in a lot of cases we can afford it okay we can afford it but because in the store in the first place I ain’t I walking into a Lamborghini store right right but because of the way we look but because of the way we look sometimes the staff that also that cannot afford it frankly sometimes the staff looks at us like we shouldn’t be there and so I think the the intensity and the Gaze just goes up like like 25 levels like and and so it it’s really it’s really nuts how this happens and unfortunately the story is familiar it’s familiar what makes the story different is that it happened to a Washington Wizards general manager who as as you pointed out Mark didn’t just say hey this happens all the time I can’t believe this okay I’m gonna let it go and move on this guy said no no no I’m GNA do something about it I’m going to draw attention to it I I think it’s phenomenal Phenom phenomenal because a lot of general managers a lot of people was happens to they’re so humiliated yeah they wanted to go away or they’re so angry that they go for that money and but not talk about some of the Lessons Learned in the story well I’ll tell you what when I had that incident in Hillsburg and people could look it up if they want to look it up last year um it was five of us including Eddie kenison former NFL star we w we did a wine tasting and then went to this uh furniture store uh in Hillsburg and immediately you saw the people like get from behind the cash register and kind of watch us and watch where we’re going and um you know once they calmed down we all had like church clothes on so I don’t know how we look like these uh I know how we look like these but um the lady had told me I had asked her about the bathroom and she said it was a police station that across the street where you could use the bathroom wow and then I you know I I indulged her I’m like okay cuz maybe that’s true I’m like the police station and this is where she I think crossed the line where she said well don’t worry about it you won’t get arrested and so like you know and before that I think often times when you go into that situation where you’re know you’re being racially profiled in the store you going into it thinking like I’m buying something before I leave I have to buy something to prove to these people that I have the money to buy something and I and I’ve made the mistake of doing that before amen and before I asked the bathroom question I I caught myself because I was I was going to I mean gonna buy something just to prove to them that I deserve to be there and then I like that’s stupid why why do I even want to give them any of my money right oh that’s like that’s like the scene in Boomerang where you know Martin and Eddie Murphy and and they’re in the suit store and they’re yeah they’re all natally dressed and the guy comes up and says that jacket is $1,800 and Martin was like would you think I can’t pay for it and he says we don’t keep cash in the store you know it’s like that when I was reading the story after I was done with it I was thinking of that scene especially when they walked out and Eddie Murphy yelled now to the guy and the guy jumped like it was you know like somebody had pulled a gun on him like that’s it it’s I think as black men you know and we’re all of a of a certain age to some degree I’m a little bit younger than you guys but you feel like no I’m saying just a generational thing I’m just saying generational thing like it it cross it crosses generation about CH you ain’t talking about CH but anyway go ahead go ahead we listening we listening go ahead make your point I think I I was going to say was you feel like that awareness you know when you walk in the store like you feel that if you walk something into something highend like you know that eyes are going to be on you no matter who act it could be black people working there and you know that the the eyes are going to be on you Mark I don’t think that ever leaves you right you know I’m sure like as much as Will Dawkins loves to shop when he goes into a sacks or Neeman or something like that he’s Mak he’s had to surround us not just on Lost prevention he’s got his eyes on the sales people you know what I mean yeah right and then the the one thing that’s good with him is I think he got closure on something so bad and that they’re doing something better with my situation there was no closure in fact the lady reached out to me later told me she had one black friend and that she wasn’t not that one not that one not that comment oh had a black girlfriend and she knows how how what black people go through she had one black friend for 20 years and there’s no way profiled in my story why only one why only one in a generation only one don’t you find that problematic what if I what if I told one friends how come those how come her black friend or you know how come that woman’s or whoever’s black friends don’t don’t rock with you you know what I mean like like yeah you got the one black friend but that person’s friends don’t rock with you for whatever reason so she was wasl to me by watching the video there’s no way I should have felt racially profiled okay all right well man I like exit of the conversation because I’m like ain’t nothing good going to come from this man she she showed me uh showed me how she stood but you know what and I I’ll the last thing I’ll say on this because I want to ask you a couple more things before we uh before we move on before we get out of here uh mark I think we all can relate to this too whether it’s your parents or your friends just having somebody who you can tell your story to who understands your position and can give you wise conso Will Dawkins parents are fantastic oh yeah I mean between between the quotes you had from him talking about conversations with his mom and conversations with his dad saying hey this is your D to to do something would you want son to go through this would you want your son to go through it no so let’s yeah amazing and and I give Will Dawkins credit on this one obviously has amazing parents and he he said that what his parents told him kind of pushed him over uh to do something uh publicly he also made a point before the players went you know off to wherever they went at the end of the regular season in their exit uh meeting to tell them about what happened to him and for them to be care careful like how sad is this right you got these multi-million dollar predominantly black men on the Washington Wizards and your African-American general manager is basically like telling you the same story M Holly that you tell your son about driving wild black and stuff like that right like as much money and prowess as those guys have the general manager still felt like and was certainly this I think being a father in a sense telling them like hey man I know how big of stars you guys are but this can still happen to you hey thank you for watching brother from another if you haven’t hit that subscribe button go ahead and do that now don’t forget you can catch us three to four weekdays on peacock tv.com and on SiriusXM channel 85

Marc J. Spears joins Brother From Another to discuss a 2023 incident in which Washington Wizards GM Will Dawkins was racially profiled while shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, breaking down Dawkins’ response to the event. #NBCSports #NBA #WashingtonWizards
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Washington Wizards GM Will Dawkins racially profiled at Saks Fifth Avenue | Brother From Another
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