A Thief! Food-court room drama at the mall

By Nat Irvin
Winston-Salem Journal Columnist

"I'm sick of this," said the 21-year-old black woman to her friend, who stood among the crowd of onlookers in the food court of the Southpoint Mall in Durham. Moments earlier, the two women had been enjoying the food-court fare. They'd just graduated from UNC Chapel Hill. This was the first time in a long while that they could afford to walk in the mall with time on their hands, to enjoy the unreal life before the reality of real life would come home.

But already, here was an all-too-familiar reality. Two cops - a black male and a white female - were attempting to arrest a black man. Apparently the man had shoplifted some item, and the cops had put him in handcuffs.

What made the scene so bad was that the man had been seated at a table for two with his girlfriend. Once she realized what was happening, she hid her face in her hands, embarrassed that this could happen to them - and in the food court in the mall.

The two women had been seated right behind the couple, but once the ruckus started, they turned around to see what the commotion was all about. Their emotions ran the gamut: disgust with the man for having shoplifted; sympathy for the black woman who had to suffer the indignity of it all; and then disgust with the cops, who were just doing their job.

Humiliated in public

One of the women said - just loud enough for the cops to hear, "I'm sick of this. I'm so sick of seeing black men in trouble" - especially in front of others.

Meanwhile, the law-and-order saga continued. The black male cop stood directly behind the chair of the suspect while the female officer stood alongside the table, saying, "Where is it, sir? We have been following you because we had information that you fit the profile of the shoplifter who left one of the stores, causing the alarm to go off."

You could tell that the man was angry. He was beginning to get loud, insisting that he was not a thief.

"No officer, it was not me. I didn't steal anything. I can show you my receipt."

By this time, an even larger crowd of onlookers had gathered. Parents with children covered their children's faces, concerned that the man might become violent. The female officer told the man that if he had a receipt for the missing item, he needed to produce it. The suspect asked the officer if she would uncuff one of his hands so that he could reach into his bag, which was lying under their table. At this point, things got tense. The two women pretended not to look, but kept watching.

Crimes of the heart

It's a good thing they were looking, because as the man reached into his bag, they saw him pull out a small box. Suddenly the man fell to one knee and turned to his girlfriend, with the box opened. He said, "Baby, I am not the thief. You are. You stole my heart years ago. Please help me become the man I need to be by becoming my wife. I love you."

The girlfriend started crying, and the whole food court started cheering. Two young white women ran up to the couple's table and asked to see the ring. A white middle-age guy walked up to the black man, shook his hand and offered congratulations. The two cops were grinning. And for a while nobody wanted to leave; they all stood around marveling at what had just happened.

"That is sooo beautiful," remarked the 21-year-old woman. For that one moment in the Southpoint Mall in Durham, love had conquered all. As the couple walked out of the mall, people of all colors, faiths and backgrounds had come together.

Love - and a little bit of surprise.