After racial-profiling incident at Old Navy, Iowan says 'this type of act should be condemned'

A central Iowa man who alleges to have been racially profiled by employees at an Old Navy at Jordan Creek Town Center said Thursday that he "wants the world to know that this type of act should be condemned."

"Whatever color your skin, you shouldn't have to deal with that while you're shopping," James Conley III said during a news conference at the Parrish Kruidenier law firm in Des Moines.

Conley, 29, shared recordings and recollections of his experience with Old Navy employees Tuesday in a viral Facebook post. 

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, the post had been shared over 119,000 times. Conley said he wore an Old Navy jacket that he got for Christmas into the store, picked out some hoodies to buy, and went to check out. He was then asked if "I wanted to also purchase the jacket that I was wearing," he wrote. "The store manager was very unprofessional and stereotyped me because I was a black male."

Conley said he is a "frequent shopper" at this particular Old Navy, located at 6805 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. He said he shops there weekly to purchase clothes for himself, his wife and three children.

Conley even recognized the employees who were working Tuesday during the nearly 20-minute incident.

"For that to happen, it really hit home for me," Conley said. "At first I was going to remain silent ... for that to happen in the way it did in front of other customers, it was really embarrassing. 

"That's not the right thing you should do to a customer. ... I don't wish that on anybody."

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Old Navy had signs taped to the front doors Wednesday saying it was temporarily closed. The store reopened Thursday.

A manager on duty greeted a Des Moines Register reporter when arriving to the store, but declined to comment further about the incident and reiterated a statement made Wednesday by Old Navy officials.

Later Thursday, Old Navy posted a statement to its official Facebook page addressing the alleged incident, saying that the company has apologized to Conley for the experience and that a "thorough investigation" is being conducted.

"Profiling is not tolerated in our stores, and we will swiftly take action in accordance with our policies, beliefs and values."

MORE: Old Navy addresses alleged racial profiling incident in Iowa

Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy, says in its customer bill of rights published at GapInc.com that "profiling is an unacceptable practice and will not be tolerated."

Tom Newkirk, a civil rights attorney in Des Moines with expertise in cognitive and civil rights biases, told the Register that Conley has what's considered a denial of service case under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

"He has a right to access retail stores without being subjected to profiling or comments or harassment based on race," Newkirk said of Conley.

Newkirk added that there was nothing about Conley that should have triggered employees' biases other than the color of his skin. He praised Conley's attitude and demeanor.

"I think the thing to take away from (the incident) is how extensive this African-American man had to go to get people to listen to him," Newkirk said. "He had to question them, he had to challenge them, get them to watch their videos — he had to document everything. That's why it's going viral."

Betty Andrews, president of the NAACP Iowa-Nebraska, said at Thursday's news conference that racial profiling "happens every day in America."

"It is humiliating. It is hurtful. And it is outrageous," Andrews said. " ... It is a constraint on one's liberty and one's freedom from the fear of demoralizing hurtful conduct and unfounded accusations based on stereotypes."

Andrews added that the NAACP believes that what happened to Conley at Old Navy is "the tip of the iceberg."

"Right now, we are standing with James Conley and his family and all those in the widening community who support him. And we will persist in our efforts to seek justice for Mr. Conley and see racial profiling condemned and prohibited in Iowa."

Conley said the reaction his story has received has been "a blessing from God."

"To have everyone nationwide hear my story out, see them (Old Navy) be in the wrong and accuse me of something I've never done in my life," he said, "I appreciate everyone who has been in support of all this."

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