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Racial profiling? Dunkin Donuts owner calls cops on ‘black’ customer cause she was using free Wi-Fi

Christopher Koulouris: About author bio at bottom of article.
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Tirza Wilbon White and Christina Cabral
Pictured black customer-Tirza Wilbon White and Dunkin Donuts franchise owner, Christina Cabral.
Tirza Wilbon White and Christina Cabral
Pictured black customer-Tirza Wilbon White and Dunkin Donuts franchise owner, Christina Cabral.

Was Tirza Wilbon White a victim of racial profiling? Dunkin Donuts owner, Christina Cabral, calls cops on ‘black’ customer following dispute over free Wi-Fi. 

A black woman is accusing a Virginia Dunkin Donuts outlet of racial profiling after being forced to leave after the non paying customer sought to use that venue’s ‘free wi-fi’ .

In a Facebook post, Tirza Wilbon White, 46, told of attempting to use her laptop at a Fairfax store last Thursday when a woman who identified herself as the owner told her and another man — also a person of color — that they’d have to make a purchase if they wanted to stay.

‘This is what it means to be black in America,’ White posted last week. ‘I am a regular in this location and her employees know me by face. They have saved my power cord when I’ve forgotten it and given it to me the next time I came. But, this was the first time I met her.’

‘I was dressed in a hoodie, yoga pants, no makeup,’ White told via NBC 4 Washington. ‘I felt racially profiled.’

At one point- White took out her cellphone and started recording the ensuing conversation with the store owner- Christina Cabral.

‘I need to ensure safety to my customers and I’m not saying that you’re a problem, but I’ve had problems in the past,’ Cabral is heard explaining in the video.

‘I don’t know what company you own but as a franchisee I do get to make my own rules and that’s posting signs,’ Cabral went on to add. ‘Because I need to ensure safety to my customers and I’m not saying you’re a problem but I’ve had problems in the past with customers.’

‘They hang out here for eight hours, they get into fights…’

Reiterated White via NBC, ‘I hadn’t committed a crime,’

Adding, ‘I wasn’t yelling. I wasn’t disruptive. I wasn’t rude.’

What if Tirza Wilbon White was white? Would Dunkin Donuts owner, Christina Cabral still have called police? 

It was when White accused Cabral of targeting her because of her race, that tensions escalated. 

‘Don’t get into racial profiling,’ Cabral said. ‘You can leave my location. I find that offensive.’

Soon after- Cabral called the cops.

A responding officer told White she had to leave ‘because she wants you to.’

A Dunkin’ Donuts spokesperson has since relayed the company responding to White.

‘We and our franchisees want every customer who walks into a Dunkin’ restaurant to be treated with dignity and respect,’ the released statement read. ‘This did not happen in a situation at a restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia. We have apologized to the customer, but we know that is not enough.’

A new sign in the store says that customers must make a purchase if they want to sit inside.

Then again- common sense might suggest picking one’s battles and simply finding another location to use the free wifi or even splurge on a coffee and a donut- after all that is what Dunkin Donuts is there for….to make sales to pay its self forward.

And then there were these reactions on social media – that made this author wonder, see what you think?

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