Woman tells Latina shoppers to 'speak English' in racist rant at Kentucky JCPenney store
The incident follows numerous viral racist tantrums captured on video in the weeks since Donald Trump's election
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Your support makes all the difference.A mall in Kentucky mall is on the hunt for a holiday shopper who went on a racist rant
Renee Buckner filmed a viral video of the unidentified white woman yelling racial slurs at a Latina woman while in line at JCPenney in the Jefferson Mall in Louisville on Tuesday evening.
The video follows numerous viral incidents in the weeks following the election of Donald Trump, which involved white people unleashing public rants directed at people of colour.
Ms Buckner said the woman became agitated when a friend of the Latina woman came up to meet her at the cash register with another item.
“It don’t bother me if I say it and I don’t care if everybody hears me. I think everybody here feels the same way I do,” the woman told the victim. “Go back to wherever the f**k you come from lady.”
She demanded the woman go to the back of the line, then implied the victim is on welfare.
“Just because you come from another country it don’t make you nobody,” she says. “The taxpayers probably paid for all the stuff. Paid all the food they get and everything else. It’s okay speak English, you’re in America. If you don’t know it, learn it.”
Ms Buckner, who stood feet away from the harasser, posted the now-deleted video to Facebook. In less than 24 hours, the video racked up 6 million views.
“I had to get back on FB, to expose this racism in America/Louisville. If we ignore it, it will never go away....smh this is what America has come to, openly and proud to be a racist,” she wrote.
The mall addressed the video in a statement on their Facebook page.
“Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behaviour,” it reads. “We will work to identify this woman, and once identified, she will be permanently banned from Jefferson Mall, per our Behavioural Code of Conduct.”
The Jefferson Mall JCPenney store manager could not release any further information.
"We are deeply disturbed by the incident that took place at our Jefferson Mall store, in which one customer made extremely inappropriate remarks to two other customers while standing in the checkout line," a JCPenney spokesperson told The Independent. "We regret that innocent bystanders – both other customers and a JCPenney associate – were subjected to such discriminatory remarks. We absolutely do not tolerate this behaviour in our stores, and are working with our associates to ensure any future incidents of this nature will be addressed quickly and appropriately.
"In the meantime, JCPenney is asking for the community’s help in identifying the two women who were targeted for such remarks, as we would like to reimburse them for their entire purchase and offer a sincere apology for their experience."