Walmart Shoppers OUTRAGED By Product, Demand It Be Pulled From Shelves Immediately
Walmart is apologizing for a racist product description that appeared on its website.
In what was evidently intended to be a joke, an impostor posing for a real company called Jagazi UK, Ltd. listed a product on the Walmart website with the N-word in its name, reports the New York Post.
The product is a wig cap, used as a protective layer between a person’s hair and sewn-in hair extensions. The description identified one of the available colors as “N****r Brown.”
The racist slur quickly attracted attention on social media. The New York Times best-selling author Roxane Gay called it “so far past unacceptable.” In response, Jagazi issued a statement on its website:
We woke up this morning to the news that someone has used our name JAGAZI to list an item. Please beware that we are reporting this to as many people as we can and trying to get all the listings pulled down. The real JAGAZI is a 100% black company for black people. People have often used our brand name to try and sell their fake products. Please be aware. Very sorry for all the distress this has caused. We are feeling the pain here as well. Most shocking!
Jagazi owner Chizo Onuh elaborated in a statement quoted by KCPQ: “We’re very sorry for all the distress this has caused. We are feeling the pain here as well. It just doesn’t make any sense. No one will buy the product when you put that offensive name on it.”
In a statement to the New York Post, Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt wrote: “We are very sorry and appalled that this third party seller listed their item with this description on our online marketplace. It is a clear violation of our policy, and has been removed, and we are investigating the seller to determine how this could have happened.”
Robert Littal of Black Sports Online did not accept the apology, accusing Walmart of a cover up.
“Instead of just admitting they really messed up, Walmart has immediately tried to cover up this horrific racist description of their hair cap product,” he wrote. “Before they tried to cover things up, I verified that the description was legit. Even after they tried to cover it up by just putting ‘Brown’ and erasing the description they left live the URL that had ‘N***** Brown’ in it. I happened to screen capture that before they had a chance to change it. Not sure the protocols Walmart uses before they put something live online, but someone obviously knew what they were doing when they did this.”
This is not the first time for Walmart:
Walmart in Canada Pulls ‘Racist’ Onesie From Shelves
The retail conglomerate apologized ‘for any unintended offense this has caused’
A onesie found on a Walmart shelf in Canada was promptly pulled after a surge of protests to its insensitivity, according to reports. “I Still Live With My Parents” the onesie reads with two adjacent teepees and an arrow shot through the text.
The product was reportedly found in Ontario, Canada, and shared on social media by Elizabeth Sault, a worker at the Niagara Regional Native Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, according to Yahoo! News.
Soon, hundreds of shares and responses to the baby sleeper erupted on social media, with people calling it “racist” and “disgusting.” Several users referenced the frequency of Native children who are removed from their families and placed in foster homes.
“@Walmart Is this for real?! You can’t seriously be a Canadian corporate organization and not understand the offence of this product,” one Twitter user wrote. “Hey @Walmart. You know that indigenous children are taken into foster care disproportionately don’t you?” another tweeted.
In response to the criticism of the onesie, Walmart Canada told the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network in Manitoba, Canada, they have removed the product and they “sincerely apologize.”
“We thank our customers for bringing this matter to our attention. The graphic on this item does not represent Walmart’s beliefs and has no place in our stores. We are removing the product immediately and sincerely apologize for any unintended offense this has caused.”
Meanwhile in the U.S., Walmart is again apologizing for having a racial slur found on one of its products. A third-party vendor listed the color of a cap as “N——Brown.”
“Umm, @walmart, we need to have a chat…” tweeted Travon Free, a comedian and writer for “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.”
In a statement released by Walmart on July 17, the company said it is “appalled” by the product’s description.
“We are very sorry and appalled that this third party seller listed their item with this description on our online marketplace,” Danit Marquardt, director of corporate communications for Walmart, wrote. “It is a clear violation of our policy, and has been removed, and we are investigating the seller to determine how this could have happened.”
Walmart said they have removed all products by the United Kingdom-based third-party seller, Jagazi Naturals, but the owner of that company said the cap is a counterfeit version of theirs and its sale was unauthorized, CNN Money reported. “We’re very sorry for all the distress this has caused. We are feeling the pain here as well,” Chizo Onuh of Jagazi Naturals told CNN Money. “It just doesn’t make any sense. No one will buy the product when you put that offensive name on it.”
Sources: New York Post, JAGAZI, KCPQ, Black Sports Online / Photo credit: Mike Mozart/Wikimedia Commons, Walmart via Black Sports Online (2)
