Book Review: Shopping while Black: Consumer racial profiling in America

• Published date: 01 September 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016821990110
• Author: Sarah Britto
• Date: 01 September 2024

Book Reviews

Gabbidon, S., & Higgins, G. (2020).

Shopping while Black: Consumer racial profiling in America. Taylor & Francis. 130 pp. $35.96, ISBN: 978100303930.

Reviewed by: Sarah Britto,California State University, Dominguez Hills, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016821990110

Shopping While Black: Consumer Racial Profiling in America (2020) by Shaun Gabbidon and

George Higgins focuses on the rarely examined phenomenon of consumer racial profiling (CRP)

in the United States. This work’s relevance is undeniable as protests against police brutality directed

at minorities, specifically Black men and women, have highlighted issues ranging from implicit bias

to racial profiling. Through four chapters and a brief conclusion, Shopping While Black confronts

systemic racism in retail and offers policy recommendations that will both reduce human suffering

related to being profiled and financially benefit the retail industry. Utilizing research on public per-

ceptions of CRP, official reports of shoplifting, victimization surveys, and a review of CRP litigation,

the authors explore the scope and nature of racial profiling by private security in retail establishments.

The emotional and psychological toll of regular surveillance, labeling, and public shaming that

accompanies CRP is also discussed and significantly contributes to the growing literature on

“living while Black.”

Detailing the history of shoplifting, Chapter 1 establishes that the stereotypical image of a shop-

lifter and accompanying behavioral justifications are socially constructed and have changed over

time. Although shoplifting had been around for centuries, industrialization and modernization led

to a consumer culture with a materialistic focus. An increase in shoplifting among middle-class

White women in both British and American society accompanied these societal changes. This led

to a stereotype of shoplifters as middle-class White females. This stereotype coincided with the

development of the new psychological diagnosis of kleptomania, which allowed much of the

moral blame associated with a criminal label to be removed from the act of theft while reinforcing

other negative stereotypes of women. However, the practice of slavery in the United States included

labeling both Black men and women as thieves, precipitating an atmosphere for racialized stereo-

types to persist. Further, Gabbidon and Higgins chronicle how the “separate but equal”Supreme

Court decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case opened the doors of some retail establishments

for Blacks, though this was effectively diminished by Jim Crow–era discriminatory practices. More

specifically, once inside retail stores, the movements of Blacks were heavily surveilled, and it was not

uncommon for retailers to refuse service and credit to Black customers. These practices were later

exacerbated by the “criminalblackman”myth, which linked race with shoplifting and dangerousness.

The authors note excessive surveillance, consistent with both labeling theory and Blalock’s minority

group threat theory, can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy where retailers frequently apprehend Black

individuals—while missing shoplifters of other races.

Chapter 2 relies on somewhat dated, but notably the most recent available, Gallup poll public

opinion survey data on perceptions of CRP. The analysis found Blacks and Hispanics were more

Book Reviews

Criminal Justice Review

2024, Vol. 49(3) 395-406

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