Georgia shop that said it would charge only white people $20 booking fee apologizes

Georgia shop that said it would charge only white people $20 booking fee apologizes


A coastal Georgia clothing store is apologizing for an appointment policy some customers say is discriminatory.
Civvies on Broughton in Savannah sparked a social media firestorm this week after it said it would charge only white customers a refundable $20 fee to shop at the vintage clothing store, WJCL reported.
The deposit, which was used to hold a customer’s appointment slot, was waived for customers of color, however.
“Most of the feedback about our decision to waive this refundable deposit is racist because it favors Black people, indigenous people and people of color,” store manager Raine Blunk said, according to the news station. “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 defended the policy, saying he believed what the store was doing “is within the confines of the law.”
By Tuesday, however, the store had posted an apology from the owners.
Statement from the owners: “It was not our intention to act in any way that might be perceived as discriminatory and for...
“It was not our intention to act in any way that might be perceived as discriminatory and for that we apologize,” it read, according to its Facebook page.
Civvies launched the promotion Monday after re-opening by appointment only, WTOC reported. The coronavirus pandemic had briefly shuttered the business, which sells secondhand clothing and footwear.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, the store said it would waive the deposit fee for Black, indigenous and other people of color because “as a mostly white staff with white ownership, we do not feel comfortable upholding a digital and financial barrier which could prohibit BIPOC from shopping at our store at this time.”
Managers went on to say the store would work with white customers who were unable to afford the $20 deposit. However, they would not accept bookings from white customers who refused to pay the fee because “you believe our policy is unethical.”
Backlash ensued, and the store’s apology was of little consolation to white customers who felt slighted by the new policy.
“ ’I’m sorry you interpreted what I did negatively’ is not an apology,” one user wrote on Civvies’ Facebook page. “You have only demonstrated that you have learned nothing from this.”
“No one ‘perceived’ it as discriminatory ... it is discriminatory,” another added.
Another critic blasted the store for making “offensive assumptions about people of color and discrimination against white people.”
McClatchy News reached out to Civvies on Broughton for comment and is awaiting response.

MMW

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It

Image
Here’s what Russia’s 2020 disinformation operations look like, according to two experts on social media and propaganda. By   DARREN LINVILL   &   PATRICK WARREN Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t  “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,”  as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy. Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously. MORE: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/ P...
Read more

The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term

Image
The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term   (Photo: Photos: Getty Images) Americans will almost certainly go to bed on Nov. 3 without knowing who won the presidential election. Since millions of people will vote by mail, constraints on time and resources will slow ballot counting into potentially a weeks-long process. Voting patterns suggest it’s likely that President  Donald Trump  could end Election Day in the lead in certain key states, only to be overtaken by Democratic opponent  Joe Biden  when more votes are tallied.  This could create a nightmare scenario during the three months stretching from Election Day to the Jan. 20 inauguration: a battle on the state and congressional level over who is the legitimate winner. This could include Congress reconvening on Jan. 6, presided over by Vice President  Mike Pence , with no consensus over its potential role in choosing the next president. This...
Read more

When Life Hands You Lemons

Image
 It's like this folks: sometimes your mind goes blank. Happens more than usual with me of course. Take this forum for instance. I wanted to post something today and couldn't think of a topic. At least not a non-sexual one and we know sexual ones lately have been frowned upon.  Then along comes one of our regulars and complains about something. Well, they might not say it was a complaint, just an observation, but it was a complaint. A minor one. It has something to do about being able to make something out of nothing. Sort of like me this morning, how to make a thread out of an empty head? But they (notice I am using the correct pronoun, not saying he or she), by what they said got me thinking. What I thought was: Not sure if that is the actual saying, if I remember correctly, I remember the saying going something like this: Umm, no, I don't think the saying I am thinking of goes that way either, maybe ONE of you good folks can remind me how the saying goes. Either way, when...
Read more