Jay Z is changing his stance on the racial profiling allegations that were made against Barneys New York and although he seems to be acknowledging that racial profiling occurred, he still isn’t ready to cut ties with the luxury retailer.
On Friday the international hip-hop mogul revealed that he will be keeping his partnership with Barneys to release the BNY SCC collection, but he wants to add a few more conditions to the deal.
After online petitions urged the “Tom Ford” rapper to walk away from his deal with Barneys, Jay Z has decided that he will take matters into his own hands instead of simply breaking ties with the company.
The new deal agrees to give Jay Z a position that will allow him to review the store’s policies and “deal with the issue of racial profiling.”
“I am in a unique position to use my voice to affect change to this disturbing issue,” Jay Z said. “The easy position would have been to walk away and leave policy making to others hoping that someone addresses the problem.”
Jay Z went on to say that he didn’t want to “leave the outcome to others” so he is “choosing to take this head on.”
Another part of the new deal is that 100 percent of the sales from the BNY SCC collection will go to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation compared to the original deal which would only hand over 25 percent of the proceeds.
Barneys will also contribute to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and hand over 10 percent of their sales from November 20 from all of their retail stores nationwide.
While some people are thankful Jay Z has decided to assess the situation, others feel like this is nothing more than damage control.
Michael Palillo, whose client Trayon Christian was stopped by cops after buying a $349 belt at Barneys, said the decision to donate 100% of the proceeds from Jay Z’s clothing line to aid minority students was laudable but asked the New York Daily News,
“Is this statement an acknowledgment that racial profiling and discrimination did occur or is this damage control? Will those who were falsely arrested and illegally detained solely due to the color of their skin sleep better this evening by reading Mr. Z’s comments?”
Mark Lee, Barneys’ CEO, hopes that with Jay Z’s help the company will be able to prevent any other racial profiling incidences from happening and he has already met with Rev. Al Sharpton along with Marc Morial who is the president of the National Urban League.
“Moving forward, Mr. Carter’s leadership in this process will further strengthen the industry’s ability to ensure that anyone who walks into a retail establishment is treated equally and with respect,” a press release from Barneys read. “We welcome Mr. Carter’s input and recommendations to our future policies and guidelines.”
Only time will tell if Jay Z’s new deal will actually help combat racial profiling at Barneys’ New York location.
