A woman who had to be escorted to a cash register to buy black American beauty products at a Southern California Walmart filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the retail giant Friday.
Ok I’m black and even I’m calling bs on this one
— #notdone (@kingcolbe31) January 26, 2018
Hell white ppl sue for complete bullshit all the time. Get cho coin sis.
— Katie T (@TomBoi_GRITS) January 29, 2018
Let's see there is also other stuff like infant formula washer tabs. Go look it's not a black thing.
— Carl Day (@CarlDay54877243) January 29, 2018
In this weeks episode of "breathing while black"…..
— Shasha (@shashamskana) January 29, 2018
— R Denise Everson (@rdenise80) January 29, 2018
Go to another store. Why spend your $$$ where you are not respected or appreciated as a customer ?
— Carmen Hinton (@MsCarmen_Hinton) January 29, 2018
Don't buy your haircare products from walmart
— Cari Jones (@carijonsweets) January 28, 2018
Good. Shea Moisture is one of the brands, is black owned, and will lose money if customers opt to buy other brands because unlocking the glass door takes too long.
— Karmella Haynes (@drkahaynes) January 28, 2018
Hi Karmella, Shea Moisture is no longer black owned. But, there are plenty of black own brands that you can purchase online or at other retailers. See my website/blog about black owned brands, https://t.co/CJZm7ESgNW
— Leslie (@ShopwithLeslie) January 28, 2018
Hi Karmella, It was sold to Unilver, though he is a part of the business. Here is one link, about this https://t.co/PoVzWGDFmX
— Leslie (@ShopwithLeslie) January 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/Bambam80141919/status/957684837367894016
Your dollars are “votes” that you cast on a daily basis. Put your $ where you should. Don’t shop where you are not wanted.
— Jean-Sebastien René (@samsontha1) January 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/MzSailiante/status/957769409409507328
From Slate. Story by Jaime Dunaway.
Essie Grundy was shopping at a Walmart in Perris, California, when she noticed that cosmetics marketed to black women were the only ones locked in anti-theft casing.
“When I walked down the aisle and saw that Walmart had placed all of the African-American hair and skin products under lock and key, I had to pause. I was in shock,” Grundy said at a news conference Friday. To purchase a bottle of lotion, an employee had to unlock the anti-theft casing and then walk the product to the register before Grundy was allowed to touch it.
“I felt that I was being treated as a person who might be a thief, even though I have no criminal history,” she said. “I never want my children, or anyone else’s children, to experience what I did at Walmart that day.”
Grundy’s attorney, women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, said the plaintiff wants Walmart to issue an apology and to remove the additional security around its ethnic cosmetic products.
Walmart defended its actions in a statement, saying such measures are necessary to prevent shoplifting.
Walmart’s Perris store is not the only location to be accused of segregating its beauty products.
Nor is Walmart the only retailer accused of discriminatory practices against people of color. CVS shoppers have also complained on social media that the pharmacy chain locks its black cosmetics behind anti-theft casing. And in 2015, former detectives sued the company for racially profiling black Americans and Hispanics.
“CVS intentionally targets and racially profiles its black and Hispanic shoppers based on the highly offensive, discriminatory, and ill-founded institutional belief that these minority customers are criminals and thieves,” the lawsuit said.
Department stores Macy’s and Barneys have also settled racial discrimination cases in recent years after allegations that security personnel detained an inordinate number of minorities on suspicion of shoplifting.
Read more at Slate.
