According to the video‘s creator, a TikTok video from a creator known as Netra Nicole has sparked a conversation about racial profiling after she shared a negative experience she and her friends had while shopping at a Marshalls store in La Jolla, San Diego. In the video, she describes how a group of four Black women were allegedly discussed in Spanish by store employees who assumed the shoppers could not understand them.
The video, posted to her account @thevirtuouseducator, shows the creator speaking directly to the camera. She explains that the group was in San Diego to celebrate birthdays and was shopping at the Marshalls location when the incident occurred. She states that she and her friends were the only Black people in the store at the time.
According to the speaker in the video, the employees’ comments in Spanish suggested the group was stealing. She asserts that the assumption was based solely on their race and appearance. “We were completely insulted and the behavior from those employees was completely unacceptable,” she said in the video.
Video alleges employees’ assumptions about the shoppers’ language and finances
The speaker in the video states that the employees apparently believed the shoppers only spoke English and would not understand the Spanish conversation. She says this assumption was incorrect. “What they didn’t expect from us apparently is that some of us understand Spanish. So that’s where they messed up there,” she said.
She emphasizes that the group are professional women with significant purchasing power. “Collectively together, we earn more than $500,000 a year,” she states in the video, adding that they spent hundreds of dollars collectively at the store during the visit. The video’s caption also mentions the group’s collective annual income.
The speaker argues that their financial status should not be a requirement for respectful treatment. “Our income, education, careers, or status should NEVER be the prerequisite for being treated with dignity,” the video’s caption states. The speaker in the video says, “We deserve the same dignity and respect afforded to everybody else that was in their store.”
Store manager reportedly apologized after the incident
After leaving the store, the speaker says one of her friends called the Marshalls location to speak with a manager. She identifies the manager as Aracelia. “She did acknowledge that that was wrong. She was very apologetic and she listened to the concerns, and we do appreciate the response,” the speaker says in the video.
However, she adds that the apology was not sufficient. “But what we would have appreciated even more is if it never would have happened in the first place,” she states. According to the video’s creator, the video’s caption echoes this sentiment, saying, “An apology after customers have already been humiliated and made to feel racially profiled cannot undo the experience we had.”
The speaker expresses particular disappointment that the alleged profiling was carried out by employees she describes as women of color. She says in the video, “I have to point it back to these were women, women of color who face some of the biases that we face. And they were themselves very biased.”
In the video, the speaker calls for Marshalls corporate leadership to address the incident. “I sincerely hope that the manager and the Marshall’s corporate leadership address this with their employees because they need some serious training, some serious professional development on bias, unconscious bias,” she says.
She states that the group will not return to that location. “We will never spend another dollar at their location. We will never visit their location again when we come back to San Diego, California,” she says in the video. The video’s caption confirms this, stating, “They will never get another dollar from us.”
The speaker concludes her video with a broader message. “Being Black is not probable cause. It’s not. Being Black while shopping is not suspicious behavior either. Being Black is beautiful and powerful. Don’t forget it,” she says.
The video has generated a number of comments from viewers. According to the video’s creator, one commenter, who identified as Latina, wrote, “Sadly, as a latina I can say some hispanics are just as racists towards blacks as white people. I am so sorry you were treated so poorly.”
According to the video’s creator, another commenter shared their own perspective on the location, stating, “I’mnot understanding how any Hispanic woman could be profiling anyone when ICE is literally snatching their people off the streets. They clearly don’t have their priorities in order.”
A third commenter, who said they are a San Diego native, offered advice and support: “You know what’s sad I’m a San Diego native and I don’t take my black a$$ to La Jolla I don’t even want to even deal with being profiled it’s exhausting. Sorry that happened to you, shop where you’re appreciated. Sending love and light 🤍”
