38.6 F
Memphis
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Buy now

spot_img

Walmart Issues Apology for Racial Slur Appearing on Weave Cap Description, But There's An Even Bigger Issue

Walmart apparently doesn’t vet its vendors too well, and the latest fiasco involves a weave cap with the color description “nigger brown”.

Social media was appalled after noticing the color description included the racial slur. The photo was first spotted by Twitter user Kwani Lunis, and began to unfold from there:

By mid-afternoon on Monday, the description was changed and Walmart issued a statement:

Advertisement

Advertisement

“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.”

But the story doesn’t end there. Jagazi Natural’s owner, Chizo Onuh, a 39-year-old based in London, told the NY Daily News in an interview she couldn’t believe the messages she started to receive from people blaming her for the word appearing on the ad, even though her product was offered through a fake vendor.

“Considering the fact that I’m a black woman from Nigeria, what really pains me is that I get these emails from other black people who are in pain because of that word,” she said.

Advertisement

On Onuh’s own site, she stated that she’s taking action because of the blatant bootlegging of her product.

“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!”

Advertisement

And that could be a part of a bigger issue when it comes to small online businesses who have their products stolen and ripped off. Onuh stated plenty of other e-commerce sites like Wish, have taken her products and made a profit from them.

Two years ago, The Root profiled jewelry designer Rachel Stewart, after her designs started popping up on sites like Alibaba and AliExpress.

“It went from once or twice a year to every week I’m getting emails about some Instagram boutique or event vendor selling my jewelry. I’m a seller, but also a consumer, so I understand the desire to get a deal on an item you see online; I do it, too. So when someone sees my work for less than half my price, who do you think is gonna get paid? Whether the buyer knows it’s a knockoff or not, the fact is, I make no money,” Stewart said in an interview.

So not only is Walmart not vetting its vendors properly, the company is also allowing others to profit off someone else’s work. Walmart is no better than the Facebook ads you see with clothing, priced cheaply, that look vaguely familiar. And one simple Google image search will show you that the products are typically ripped off from people Etsy’s pages and other high end stores.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Maybe one day Walmart will improve its vetting process, but in all likelihood, it probably won’t.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Related Articles

Stay Connected

21,507FansLike
2,634FollowersFollow
17,200SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest Articles