Tesco has issued an apology after a customer claimed she was “racially profiled” and left “humiliated” by security cards while shopping.
Serlina Boyd, 42, a black publisher, was shopping with her two children in Hampshire when she noticed that she was being followed around the store.
She challenged the two guards and then asked to see the manager, at which point she was offered a bunch of bananas as a “goodwill gesture”. She explained: “I challenged them and felt humiliated.”
Boyd, who took out her phone to record the incident, found this offensive as “black people are constantly called monkeys”.
A woman said she was racially profiled by security guards at Tesco who followed her around the store, before offering her some bananas
Getty/Wikimedia Commons
The mother-of-two said she lodged a formal complaint with the supermarket chain, questioning if they offered their staff sufficient diversity training.
Tesco apologised to her and said they would update training where needed, however, the 42-year-old said she did not think this was “good enough”.
She told The Independent: “I actually avoid going into the local supermarkets as much as possible because I don’t want to be profiled.
“It’s as though Tesco needs a handbook about how to deal with black people in their stores. I was racially profiled. Tesco - and all supermarkets - need to look at how they treat black people when they come into the store, that the system has to change.
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“Black people should not automatically be treated as though we are criminals. I do want to see black people treated fairly when they go into a supermarket.”
Boyd said that many black people have experienced this same treatment and they deserve to go shopping without being subjected to racial profiling.
The 42-year-old launched Cocoa Girl, a magazine for black girls, back in 2020 after feeling their was nothing “appropriate” for her daughter, Faith.
Following the publication of Cocoa Girl, she then started Cocoa Boy. She said that it is important for black children to have media that resonates with them.
Tesco said that they would update their training where appropriate
GETTYA Tesco spokesperson said: “We're really sorry for the experience Serlina Boyd and her children had at our store.
“We take this extremely seriously and want all Tesco stores to be places where everyone feels welcome, and we are very sorry that, on this occasion, this was not the case.
“We immediately undertook an internal investigation and the colleagues involved were made aware of the impact of their actions and refreshed the relevant parts of their training.”
Tesco said it has launched an internal investigation into the matter, though has not disclosed any details. It has since concluded.
