The retail giants announced they would be halting the practice in response to nationwide protests against inequality. 'We are currently ensuring multicultural hair care and beauty products are not stored behind locked cases at any of our stores," said Walgreens in a Press Statement. Walmart added, "We’re sensitive to the issue and understand the concerns raised by our customers and members of the community and have made the decision to discontinue placing multicultural hair care and beauty products in locked cases."
Data analysts call the practice discriminatory (duh). Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail, via MarketWatch said, "If you lock up products for black people and you aren’t doing that for products for white customers, that is discriminatory. It is out of step with the times we are living now."
Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, a black social media leader, explained why the practice is offensive saying, "It sends a message of being prosecuted as soon as you walk in, disrespected and generalized in a way that is psychological troubling because it is based on the race of your skin or where you live and nothing more."
So glad to see this finally happening!
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