Walmart Store Gets Backlash for Extra Security Packaging on Black Hair Items

If you’re a woman of color, you’re probably aware that shopping discrimination is very real. And, even if you aren’t of color you may have heard of high-profile women like Oprah Winfrey exposed to racial discrimination while shopping. The phrase "shopping while black” is alive and according to the members of the campaign, Making Change at Walmart (which is funded by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union), Walmart is its most recent discriminator.

Two weeks ago, members of the Making Change at Walmart campaign claimed three Walmart stores in Virginia added extra security packaging on black hair care products. Now, this week, that same group launched a television ad asking viewers to call the mayor of Suffolk, Virginia, Linda Johnson, and "tell her to demand Walmart stop."

---

More on stories on Walmart:

1. The Smart Way to Shop for Beauty Products at Walmart
2. These New Makeup Brushes At Walmart Are Under $10 and Amazing
3. This Drugstore Curling Iron Is the Secret to the Sexiest Waves Ever

---

Though the group claims this is happening at three Walmart locations in Virginia, The Virginian-Pilot visited the three locations they cited, but found only one store had some black hair products enclosed in plastic security containers.

“We are disappointed with these allegations because they are false and offensive. Like every retailer, we take steps to make sure the items that might be high on a shoplifter’s list are protected against theft,” E. Blake Jackson, director of corporate communications told Allure. “Unfortunately, the hair care items in question are heavily targeted by shoplifters in this particular store, so we are taking normal measures to protect the items against theft so they are available for the customers who need them.”

Jackson couldn’t comment if the store plans to offer extra security packaging on mainstream hair products not targeted to black women or if there are plans to remove the packaging in an effort to make amends with any shoppers they may have offended. We also reached out to the Virginia stores for additional detail, but no one was available for comment at the time of going to press.

This racial issue comes on the heels of Walmart agreeing to stop selling t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts online (via a third-party merchant) that read "Bulletproof. Black Lives Matter."

But as for this controversy with the Virginia stores, “these measures are not a reflection of our valued customers and any attempt to insinuate otherwise by this particular group is shameful,” says Jackson.

Now check out these drugstore products worth digging into: