NBA player John Henson denied service at local jeweler

Updated
NBA player John Henson denied service at local jeweler



By JOHN DORN

Milwaukee Bucks center John Henson used his Instagram account to publicly share an incident that occurred Monday afternoon at a local jewelry store.

According to Henson, employees at Schwanke-Kasten locked their doors upon seeing him entering the building and hid in the back of the store until police arrived. Officers then began to question Henson about the car he was driving, ran his plates and contemplated further background checks. All while Henson was simply trying to browse the store's watch selection like any other normally paying customer.

Here's Henson's full account of the incident, from the caption on his Instagram post (edited for clarity).

Went to @schwankekasten jewelry today in White-Fish Bay during regular business hours. They locked the door and told me to go away. After I rang the doorbell twice everyone went to the back. No answered the door or told me what was going on. This was followed by two police cars pulling up and parking across the street and watching me for 5 minutes (I assumed they were called by the store).

I was then approached by 2 officers and questioned about the dealer vehicle I was in which is apart of my endorsement deal with Kunes Country Chevrolet and asked me what I wanted amongst other things that were just irrelevant to me being there just trying to shop at the store like a normal paying customer would do. I told them I was just trying to look at a watch. He then had to go in the back and tell them to come out it was safe but this is after they ran my plates and I overheard them talking about doing more of a background check on the car. The employees finally came out of the back and proceeded to conduct business like they previously were as we walked up.

This was one of the the most degrading and racially prejudice things I've ever experienced in life and wouldn't wish this on anyone. This store needs to be called out and that's what I'm doing. You have no right to profile someone because of their race and nationality and this incident needs to be brought to light and I urge anyone who ever is thinking of shopping here reads this and doesn't bring any business to this discriminatory place.

A deeper dive into the store's Instagram page hints at even more racist tones, as pointed out by a Twitter user.




Henson's story is jarring and an unfiltered look into how real racial discrimination is -- even for well-known professional athletes. Hopefully the 24-year-old's unfortunate and sickening story raises more awareness to the issue and can help put a stop to this sort of treatment.

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