Walmart Scrambles After Racist Product Description Found

Third-party seller used a racial slur to describe a product on site
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 17, 2017 5:32 PM CDT
Walmart Scrambles After Racist Product Description Found
Screenshot of Walmart product posted by journalist Kwani Lunis.   (Twitter: Kwani Lunis)

Walmart has some explaining to do. Per WCVB, sports journalist Kwani Lunis called out the big box store in a tweet that instantly went viral after finding a hair weaving product described as “N*****-Brown” on its website. “Hey @Walmart what are you doing?” she wrote in a post that received more than 4,000 retweets and 3,000 likes. The slur was quickly removed from the product listing and the product was eventually removed entirely from sale; Walmart released a statement apologizing for the listing on Monday, writing: “We are very sorry and appalled that this third party seller listed their item with this description on our online marketplace.” The company says the incident is a “clear violation” of its policies and is investigating the seller.

But the company is being blasted for the oversight on social media, where the story has blown up. According to the New York Post, author Roxane Gay called the listing “so far past unacceptable,” while comedian Travon Free pointed out that Amazon’s listing of the same product didn’t include racial slurs. CNN Money reports that the product is manufactured by Jagazi Naturals, but the UK company's owner claims the Walmart listing is a counterfeit version sold by an unauthorized seller. "We're very sorry for all the distress this has caused,” says Chizo Onuh of Jagazi Naturals. "It just doesn't make any sense. No one will buy the product when you put that offensive name on it." (Earlier this year, a Walmart customer was banned from stores after going on a racist tirade caught on video.)

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