Racial Bias While Shopping Book Scene
So I can imagine the scene pretty clearly, but cannot think of what book it is from. I feel like the book is 5-15 years old, but I could be wrong. Pretty sure it was fiction, but it could be based on a true story. I mostly read contemporary fiction (family dramas), crime novels, and thrillers. For the life of me I cannot remember what the main story was about, though it clearly had themes related to race.
A semi-main character in the book is a Black woman, and she invites a female author, reporter, or lawyer (can't remember which) to go shopping with her. It's a strange request as the two aren't friends, it's a professional relationship (like her personal lawyer or someone who is writing something about her). During the shopping trip, the Black woman is followed around the store, or at least kept an eye on more than necessary, while the author/reporter/lawyer doesn't even notice at first. The author/reporter/lawyer might grab a bag of chips to eat while they shop (and pays for it after eating them when leaving the store). At some point, the author/reporter/lawyer has a revelation and realizes the racial profiling that is happening to the Black woman and the Black woman explains that she never would have been able to just start eating chips she hadn't paid for yet. I feel like the store was Marshalls or TJ Maxx, but that also sounds much too specific for a book.
The narrator for this scene is possibly the author/reporter/lawyer, but could be the other woman.
Thanks in advance!
Posted Jul 1, 2021, 12:24 AM UTC