The Lansing Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is offering legal support to a group of students asked to leave a store in Meridian Mall for what they say were racially motivated reasons.

The students were shopping for Fake the Funk 11 outfits at Deb Shop in the Okemos mall Oct. 23 when security guards approached them and asked them to leave the store.

Mixed reasons for the request, such as loitering, creating a disturbance and messing up the store were later explained by security guards and store managers.

But the students, who say they were reprimanded by guards without identification and later threatened by other guards, said they believe store employees were afraid of a large group of black students.

Students, ACLU representatives, campus minority group leaders and administrators planned Sunday night to request a meeting with store and mall officials to explain the situation and request a public apology. Diversity training and written information about store and mall policies also are likely to be among a list of demands.

A formal boycott has not been called, but the students are requesting people do not shop at the mall or in Deb Shops. If the demands are not met or discussed, legal action and an official boycott may be set, students said.

“They treated us like we were criminals,” said advertising junior Marcelle Bryant, who was among the group of 10 students. “We don’t want to shop where our money is not appreciated. If we were six white girls shopping and having a good time, they would have approached and asked what we needed help with, not called security and asked us to leave.”

Henry Silverman, president of the ACLU’s Lansing branch said the group will be searching for an attorney for the students and beginning its own investigation into the store and the mall. The incident may serve as a catalyst to study and deter other racially motivated acts in the area, Silverman said.

“We’re always concerned when these acts of real or perceived discrimination take place,” Silverman said. “Young people in general have found that this mall and many malls want their money, but not their presence. Malls and the police at malls have to take some responsibility. Although they do have private rights, they do need to be held accountable.”

Mall management refused to comment because of the possible legal allegations.

Deb Shops, Inc. officials released a statement last week saying shop managers reserved the right to expel large groups that do not seem to be shopping, but behavior - not skin color or age - must be a determining factor.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission is also investigating the incident, said commission spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo.

Mall officials and store officials have been cooperative, Oguntoyinbo said, and he doesn’t expect the commission’s decision to act on or drop the case to take more than a few weeks.

“This is what we do,” Oguntoyinbo said. “We investigate more than a thousand cases each year, which could run the gamut from age discrimination to race discrimination. If it’s proven, and that’s a a big if, there will be some penalties.”

Oguntoyinbo said the commission usually pushes for an out-of-court resolution between disputing parties. Until more information is found, researchers from the commission will remain objective, he said.

“Our job is to enforce the law,” he said. “We’re not a court. It won’t take years. We will continue to talk with both sides, but at this time, there’s not much more that we know.”

Jamie Gumbrecht can be reached at gumbrec1@msu.edu.