In this paper, I examine the weekend night curfew imposed on youth under 16 years of age at the Mall of America (MOA). The discussion is based on qualitative research including twenty-six weekend observations of the curfew enforcement, interviews with security of color subcontracted by mall management to enforce the curfew, and media analysis of public relations efforts concerning disturbances and lawsuits involving security guards and youth of color at the mall. I argue that MOA security measures are closely linked with public relations (PR) and that a central function of PR as a support for security is to veil the racial dynamics motivating management policies at the mall. Key illustrations of the PR–security links and aims are seen in the campaign to ‘sell’ the curfew, which displaced issues of racial and generational inequalities onto moralizing discourses of property, safety, and family values, and in the deployment of security of color to accomplish friendly exclusions and managed inclusions of youth.
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