Posted on 08/18/2020 4:40:57 AM PDT by gattaca
A clothing store in downtown Savannah, Georgia, raised some eyebrows recently when it waived a $20 appointment fee for black customers and other people of color while keeping the fee intact for white customers, WJCL-TV reported.
Civvies on Broughton adopted the appointment system after reopening since the COVID-19 shutdown, the station said, adding that it then waived the fee for everyone but white customers in order to try to help disenfranchised communities.
"This promotional waiver serves the substantial business purpose of centering and prioritizing people who might not be able to access vintage clothing," store manager Raine Blunk told WJCL.
"Most of the feedback has been that our decision to waive this refundable deposit is racist because it favors people of color, black people, and indigenous people," Blunk added the station.
However, the store said that white customers who don't have $20 for an appointment can select the "don't agree" on the booking form so the booking manager can reach out and come up with other options, WTOC-TV reported.
But Civvies did say it wouldn't accept appointments with white customers who simply refuse to pay because of the policy, WTOC added.
Reaction Once the news was posted on the store's social media sites, backlash against the move was fierce. WJCL said some of the comments threatened lawsuits and boycotts against the 15-year-old business — but Blunk told the station that the fee waiver doesn't discriminate against anyone.
"Obviously it is unfortunate to have thousands of people commenting and messaging us saying that they are going to sue us and have contacted the Department of Labor because this is a violation of their rights," Blunk noted to WJCL, adding that "we believe that what we are doing is within the confines of the law."
Blunk also told the station that non-whites "are at this time the most likely to be affected by the poverty line, so this is not based on a racial favoritism toward black people, people of color, and indigenous people. It is simply a fact that that group of people are the most likely to be affected by a loss of historical equity, and we are taking a small step to restore that as a business to choose to wave this fee temporarily."
Anything else? Amid the backlash last week, a statement from the store's owners read, "It was not our intention to act in any way that might be perceived as discriminatory and for that we apologize."
In addition, the store manager added a lengthy apology post on Facebook acknowledging that the policy as written was "insulting to some black people, people of color and indigenous people" because it "felt like white saviorism."
The manager also said the policy was "alienating and overly aggressive to some white people, especially those who responded very negatively, for whom a different conversation or platform about racial inequities could have been more educational or informative."
No, gays
So if someone called in as a Native American, will the fee be waived? My last name is Italian, however it is also Spanish so could Mrs Deplorable say she is Hispanic and Waived the fee, too?
“... who might not be able to access vintage clothing ....”
Is something stopping anyone in the general public from walking into their store? These little dictators seem to want to pick and choose who gets to buy their junk. That might work in the exclusive, high end of retail, but is probably not a great business model for a glorified Goodwill store.
Dang. Who wrote that store’s comments? I don’t think they could have thrown any more progressive buzzwords in if they had tried!
Plus, where the heck did they get the vintage clothing they sell? Bet it wasn’t from persons of color!
Amazing the difference, isn't it? Some people have values when wronged, others just throw values out the window and act just like Satan when they feel they've been wronged. Few follow the Bible on anything any more.
So the Racists discriminate based on color?
Some lawyer is going to make a killing.
How tone deaf (actually brain-dead) do you have to be to think that this is NOT discriminatory?
Rather ironic that this discrimination against white customers took place in the deep south. We are coming full-circle.
Civil Rights Act 1964
“full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the grounds of race, color, religion or national origin.”
Back in the 80s and 90s, there was an uproar about affirmative action bake sales. Well, the clothing store is doing the same.
Their tourists, and I expect the store’s customer base, are majority white. And Chatham County is slightly majority white.
We do not support white supremacy, racism, xenophobia, sexism, transphobia or homophobia in our store. We prioritize the comfort of our queer, trans, and intersex shoppers, as well as black folks, people of color, and femmes. We ask that you are respectful of all our customers and the cultures and identities that are represented in our merchandise. We do not have gendered sections.They discriminate against whites from the get-go.
You go to prison after being destroyed and broke.
Some animals are more equal than others.
“insulting to some black people, people of color and indigenous people” because it “felt like white saviorism.”
The unintended consequences are delicious.
Taste the agony of defeat, Civvies on Broughton.
Why not take a BIG step and let colored people have your stuff for free? Come on, go big or go home.
I bet your lawyer doesn't................
“I am starting to hate them.”
You’re late to the dance. I’ve hated the left for decades.
I have never heard of a store charging its customers merely to come in and look around. Is that seriously a thing??
“However, the store said that white customers who don’t have $20 for an appointment can select the “don’t agree” on the booking form so the booking manager can reach out and come up with other options, WTOC-TV reported.”
Maybe agree to scrub the floors for a week?
I agree that white patrons are being discriminated against. But don’t you dare use the word discriminate for anyone but blacks, they “own” it.
I will never forget an experience I had years ago. Macy’s always held One Day Sales on weekdays, and their $10 off coupons were only accepted between opening hours and 1pm. I asked to use the coupon when I arrived after 5, explaining that there was no way I could have come in that morning, and stated that working people were being discriminated against. The black manager loudly repeated and questioned my use of “discriminated”, then sarcastically laughed in my face as though I was the stupid one to misuse it for anyone but blacks.
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