"Attn Walmart customers - All black people leave the store now"

[princesspumpkin]

As heard on the speaker at my local Walmart on Sunday! What is wrong with some people?



Bruce Shipkowski, Associated Press Writer, On Thursday March 18, 2010, 1:07 am EDT
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- A Walmart store announcement ordering black people to leave brought chagrin and apologies Wednesday from leaders of the company, which has built a fragile trust among minority communities.

A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township, in southern New Jersey, and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now."

Shoppers in the store at the time said a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark. And while it was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, many customers expressed their anger to store management.

"I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with a friend. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us."

Ellington, of Monroe, and her friend Patricia Covington said they plan to boycott the retailer until they're assured the issue has been addressed so it doesn't happen again.

The pair said they were stunned when they heard the announcement and initially believed they had misheard it. But once the words sank in, they grew angry.

"I depended on Walmart for all my needs, because the store has pretty much everything you could want," Covington said. "But until this issue is addressed in a way I'm comfortable with, I can't walk through those doors again."

Officials with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., said that the announcement was "unacceptable" and that they're trying to determine who made it and how it happened.

"We are just as appalled by this incident as our customers," the company said in a statement. "Whoever did this is just wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner. Clearly, this is completely unacceptable to us and to our customers."

This is not the first time the retailer has faced such problems.

There have been several past instances of black customers claiming they were treated unfairly at Walmart stores, and the company faced lawsuits alleging that women were passed over in favor of men for pay raises and promotions.

In February 2009, the retailer paid $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in its hiring of truck drivers.

And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the company in May 2009, claiming some Hispanic employees at a Sam's Club subsidiary in California were subjected to a hostile work environment. That suit alleges managers failed to stop repeated verbal harassment, including the use of derogatory words, against employees of Mexican descent.

However, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has said the company has worked hard in recent years to show it cares about diversity.

Bill Mitchell, a former Walmart employee who was shopping Wednesday at the store, said that he was saddened to hear about the announcement but that "as a black man, I've heard worse things."

As customer Sharon Osbourne, of Williamstown, left the store Wednesday, she called the announcement "appalling, stupid and sad."

 

[Robinrs]

My son said they talked about this in class yesterday. An idiot with a mike and now he feels like a celebrity because of all the buzz it's caused. Should never gotten one bit of press.

 

[eliza61]

I heard this on the news.
My standard answer: Artifical intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

 

[Minnesota!]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

 

[MIGrandma]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

I love Wal-Mart, but completely agree with you on the rest.

 

[legalsea]

I wonder how long the 'boycott' will last? I bet about three days (before they need some stuff).

 

[daughtersrus]

I also fail to see how this is the fault of Wal Mart. When I was much younger and working retail, we had an employee that knew that he was going to get fired. About the time that the store closing announcements were made, he got on the intercom and started with the usually announcement. "Attention Customers. The time is now 8:45 and the store will be closing in 15 minutes." He then went on to his own little rant about how horrible the store is and what a pain the customers could be and used quite foul language while doing so. This lasted for a few minutes as no one knew which phone he was doing this from.

 

[FireDancer]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

I'm pretty Walmart agnostic. There are things I like about it and things I don't. I think your take is the most logical. Whether it is a customer looking for some controversy or an employee that took it on themselves it looks like the action of a single person so that person should be reprimanded to the extent they can (I guess there is little they can do for a customer).

I don't think it was a Walmart sanctioned announcement and everything an employee does isn't a reflection of the company's interests, hence the agency dilemma.

 

[NikitaZee]

I'm not a Walmart fan either, and I also don't see how this one is their fault. If you go on Youtube, you'll see literally hundreds of videos of 'Walmart Intercom Pranks' -- 'fat people please leave the snack aisle now', etc. etc. Apparently anyone can grab the intercom and say whatever inappropriate thing they want to for a laugh. Maybe they should add an access code to their intercom phones.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Although this is a vile thing for someone to do, I see no reason to fault Walmart, even if it is one of their employees. Of course they should do due diligence to try and find out who it was, and fire if it was an employee, but this is not boycott worthy. Boycotting doesn't even make sense. What do they want Walmart to do that they aren't already doing? What if the person just yelled it out loud instead of going over the intercom? Giving it attention is just what the guilty one wants. Of course Walmart doesn't condone this, why would they want to alienate any of their customers on a huge scale like that? They don't care what color their customers are, as long as they are carrying GREEN.

 

[bettymae1121]

Ditto. I hate Walmart, but not their fault.

 

[Robinrs]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

I love Wal-Mart, but completely agree with you on the rest.

I wonder how long the 'boycott' will last? I bet about three days (before they need some stuff).

I also fail to see how this is the fault of Wal Mart. When I was much younger and working retail, we had an employee that knew that he was going to get fired. About the time that the store closing announcements were made, he got on the intercom and started with the usually announcement. "Attention Customers. The time is now 8:45 and the store will be closing in 15 minutes." He then went on to his own little rant about how horrible the store is and what a pain the customers could be and used quite foul language while doing so. This lasted for a few minutes as no one knew which phone he was doing this from.

I'm pretty Walmart agnostic. There are things I like about it and things I don't. I think your take is the most logical. Whether it is a customer looking for some controversy or an employee that took it on themselves it looks like the action of a single person so that person should be reprimanded to the extent they can (I guess there is little they can do for a customer).

I don't think it was a Walmart sanctioned announcement and everything an employee does isn't a reflection of the company's interests, hence the agency dilemma.

I'm not a Walmart fan either, and I also don't see how this one is their fault. If you go on Youtube, you'll see literally hundreds of videos of 'Walmart Intercom Pranks' -- 'fat people please leave the snack aisle now', etc. etc. Apparently anyone can grab the intercom and say whatever inappropriate thing they want to for a laugh. Maybe they should add an access code to their intercom phones.

Although this is a vile thing for someone to do, I see no reason to fault Walmart, even if it is one of their employees. Of course they should do due diligence to try and find out who it was, and fire if it was an employee, but this is not boycott worthy. Boycotting doesn't even make sense. What do they want Walmart to do that they aren't already doing? What if the person just yelled it out loud instead of going over the intercom? Giving it attention is just what the guilty one wants. Of course Walmart doesn't condone this, why would they want to alienate any of their customers on a huge scale like that? They don't care what color their customers are, as long as they are carrying GREEN.

Ditto. I hate Walmart, but not their fault.

Who's blaming Walmart???? Besides the two people the reporter quoted who wanted to be on the news?

And I'm SURE Bruce Shipkowski speaks for the "minority communities" he claims WalMart has fragile trust with...

 

[FireDancer]

Who's blaming Walmart???? Besides the two people the reporter quoted who wanted to be on the news?

And I'm SURE Bruce Shipkowski speaks for the "minority communities" he claims WalMart has fragile trust with...

True. It is easy to lose track of not only the sensationalism the news looks for when they choose who to quote but the publicity *****s that come out as the 'voice of a community' whom they don't really speak for.

This could all be stopped by having some sort of restriction on the phones. I administer our phone system in all of our locations and it isn't that hard to add a code to a phone.

 

[OK!]

I'm not a Walmart fan either, and I also don't see how this one is their fault. If you go on Youtube, you'll see literally hundreds of videos of 'Walmart Intercom Pranks' -- 'fat people please leave the snack aisle now', etc. etc. Apparently anyone can grab the intercom and say whatever inappropriate thing they want to for a laugh. Maybe they should add an access code to their intercom phones.

I'm surprised they don't have to key in an access code to make an announcement. I had to at every retail place for which I worked, most of which were much smaller and had less likelihood of encountering this type of situation.

Agreed, not Walmart's fault (though now it's obvious that they clearly they need to make the intercom system totally inaccessible to Joe Customer.)

 

[disneyjunkie]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

I don't see anyone blaming Walmart.

I don't buy the we don't know who made the announcement line. (empolyee or customer) With all the cameras in stores these days, how can they not know.

As far the boycott, people are free to spend their money where they see fit. If folks are bothered by what happened and was to shop else where so be it.

 

[Mkrop]

I don't see anyone blaming Walmart.

I don't buy the we don't know who made the announcement line. (empolyee or customer) With all the cameras in stores these days, how can they not know.

As far the boycott, people are free to spend their money where they see fit. If folks are bothered by what happened and was to shop else where so be it.

I read a different article (cant find it now sorry) that says they are going over security cameras but that some of the intercom phones are out of camera view, something supposedly Walmart did not realize.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I read a different article (cant find it now sorry) that says they are going over security cameras but that some of the intercom phones are out of camera view, something supposedly Walmart did not realize.

If this was a mom and pop type store, I might accept that excuse. But Walmart??? Nope, not buying it.

I bet it was just an employee fooling around.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I bet this is part of the "333 Ways to Get Kicked out of Walmart" list, or a variation of one of the "ways."

 

[daughtersrus]

I don't buy the we don't know who made the announcement line. (empolyee or customer) With all the cameras in stores these days, how can they not know.

I doubt that every square inch of the store is being taped by security camera all of the time.

 

[iwrbnd]

As much as I hate Walmart, I fail to see how this is their fault. It was one person - not someone who represents the company or the companies views. Sure, that person should be banned from the store but legal action, not shopping there anymore, etc? Now that's just stupid.

I agree!