Sports journalist Mark Spears, center, says he experienced racial profiling when he visited a store in Healdsburg with a group of friends, from left: Gregory Lee, Velena Jones, an unidentified woman, Eddie Kennison and Cheryl Heard.
Courtesy of Jim Morris
A prominent black sports journalist said in Instagram and Facebook posts that he was racially profiled by a Healdsburg business, prompting the company’s founder to apologize.
Mark Spears, an ESPN writer and co-host of the Hulu series “The Talk Project,” said he was followed by store employees and subjected to racist comments while shopping at Anthem Interiors, a home furnishings store with multiple locations in the Bay Area.
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“I am deeply sorry that this was his experience,” said Anthem Interiors founder Janelle Lövner, adding that she was shocked to learn of the incident.
“I felt the apology was sincere,” Spears said, adding that she accepted the apology.
“I worked really long and hard to build a solid business. I care deeply about the community, my employees, all of that — so for this to happen is just devastating,” Loevner said.
Spears and a group of five friends visited Anthem Interiors near Healdsburg Plaza between wine tasting and dinner Saturday night.
He said it felt like the salespeople were watching their all-black group from the moment they walked into the store on Center Street.
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“I came in and I just felt it,” Spears said. “The shop assistants stared at us, kind of frowning.
“Anyone who has been racially profiled knows when that happens,” he said. “You feel like someone’s watching you, watching what you’re doing, like they’re expecting you to rob them.”
Spears, 51, said he has experienced this type of encounter many times, starting as a child. Normally, he said, he goes into “protection mode,” where he’ll buy something in the store just to prove he can afford it. This time, however, he stopped short of doing so.
When Spears asked to use the restroom, one of the officers told him to go to the police station across the street, he said.
“I kind of looked at them like why would I use the restroom at the police station,” Spears said.
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Spears added that the officer then told him that police would not arrest him. Spears, who said he felt offended by the remark, left the store without responding.
A member of Spears’ band, Gregory Lee, said he found the remark reprehensible. Lee said the comment implied that a black person walking into a police station would be worried about being arrested.
Loevner said he did not believe the comment had racist intent and that it was intended as a joke, although he said it was “obviously offensive.”
“It’s just a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. I don’t think it was racist, but I’m not in Mark’s shoes — I didn’t grow up black in America,” she said.
Loevner also said the police department has the closest public restroom and that’s where all customers should go.
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“I don’t think I have racist employees because if I did they would be the first to leave the company – there’s no way I’m going to tolerate that,” she said.
Loevner said he is considering advising people to use the police restroom.
The interaction didn’t sit well with Spears later when he returned to his hotel.
“I just started thinking more and more about it and it really worried me,” he said.
Spears, an East Bay resident, said that while it doesn’t show up often in the Bay Area, he has experienced it sporadically around the country. He figured if posting the experience on social media could prevent it from happening to someone else, it was worth it.
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Spears said she’s glad to have received an apology and respects the effort that went into it.
He said that stopping the experience isn’t healthy and that he plans to get over it.
“I hope it’s better for the next guy that comes along,” Spears said.
