A Black woman recorded the moments she told a department store employee to choose up for her after she noticed the employee stalking her around the store.

After a consumer at a TJ Maxx store in Wisconsin claimed to have undergone racial profiling last week, one other customer posted a video on TikTok of an analogous purchase, this time at a Kohl’s store.

TikTok user @lenaonnat posted a video titled “Employee kept following me so I gave her a job to do” with the caption “#profiling.”

“I’m going to leave some shit for her to pick up,” he tells the camera before addressing the employee directly.

“Hey you!” buyer calls employee. “You can come and pick it all up if you want to sit here and continue following me,” the patron tells the employee. “There is some work here.”

The employee begins to stutter, then tells the customer, “I had no idea what you were doing,” and claims he works in one other nearby department.

The shopper tells her that she saw her and one other employee following her around the store, so she left several items of clothing she was considering buying scattered on the ground for the employee to gather and organize.

“If you need a job, you can find it there,” the patron tells the employee, pointing to the garments she left behind. “I don’t even want this shit I’m buying. This is so weird,” he says, walking away.

Commentators praised the client’s response in an uncomfortable situation.

“It’s good that you spoke up,” one person wrote.

“I like your approach to giving them work. But I’m actually really sorry they did this to you,” one other person said.

“It makes me very angry, especially when I have to spend a lot of money,” one other commenter wrote. “Audacity”.

@lenaonnat’s shopping experience mirrors what a Black TJ Maxx customer shared on social media last week.

Sophia Madrid claimed that she and her boyfriend visited a store in Racine, Wisconsin to purchase handbags, but noticed that multiple employees were watching their movements, following them and sending information concerning the couple to one another as they browsed.

According to the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Center, consumer racial profiling is the practice of targeting a consumer for discriminatory treatment based on his or her race, ethnicity, or each. Many firms use legal shoplifting profiling tactics to stop losses. However, racial profiling is against the law.

Store associates may profile shoppers by following them as soon as they enter the store, physically searching shoppers and their belongings, physically removing shoppers from the store without reasonable cause, questioning them about their ability to afford a services or products, or repeatedly accusing them of stealing and illegally detained.

2021 report published by State of Racial Profiling in American Retail revealed that over 90 percent of black shoppers experience racial profiling when shopping or browsing. The survey was conducted amongst greater than 1,000 black consumers, 52 percent of whom said they’d not refuse to go to a store again after being profiled.

Abortion stays probably the most divisive voting issues this election season, dividing the country along racial, political and non secular lines. Depending on November’s final result, the long run of abortion access could change dramatically, threatening women’s health and safety.

In this week’s episode of “Politics Explained with Natasha Alford,” we take a look at how the rollback of abortion rights has impacted Black women.

The tragic case of Amber Thurman

Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old mother from Georgia, tragically lost her life consequently of a routine medical procedure after taking abortion pills. Thurman sought help at Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia, after she had a rare response to pills that did not remove all fetal tissue from her body. A D&C or dilation and curettage procedure could safely solve this problem.

However, newly passed laws in her home state of Georgia forced medical staff to delay intervention, and by the point doctors provided help, it was too late. Thurman’s family is now in mourning requiring answersdrawing attention to the broader threats posed by restrictive abortion laws. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family and demanding accountability from doctors on the hospital.

The case of one other black woman, Kaitlyn Joshua, shows that even when a lady intends to keep up her pregnancy, an abortion could also be vital.

Joshua, a wife and mother, recently testified on the Democratic National Convention that when she had a miscarriage and sought hospital treatment, she was taken from two emergency rooms in Louisiana.

“Because of Louisiana’s abortion ban, no one could confirm that I had a miscarriage. I felt so much pain and bleeding that my husband feared for my life,” Joshua explained. “No woman should experience what I did, but too many have.”

Legal Background: The Failure of Roe v. Wade

In June 2022, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization invalidated the constitutional right to abortion, overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had guaranteed legal abortion since 1973. The ruling returned power to individual states, allowing them to set their very own rules. regulations regarding access to abortion.

This change in power led many states to impose strict restrictions, and in some cases abortion became almost unattainable. In some states, medical professionals are very limited of their ability to assist patients in search of an abortion. For tens of millions of women, especially in states with strict regulations, these barriers put them at greater risk of complications and even death.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade traces its roots to the nominations of three conservative justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – under former President Donald Trump. These appointments modified the balance on the Supreme Court, giving conservatives a 6-3 majority. As a result, the court ordered the overturning of nearly 50 years of precedent protecting abortion rights on the federal level.

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, nearly two dozen states passed laws restricting or completely banning abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Many states have implemented pregnancy limits of six to fifteen weeks. These restrictions disproportionately affect women of color, especially Black women.

Disproportionate impact on women of color

A recent report by National Partnership for Women and Family and the National Black Women’s Reproductive Program, In Our Own Voice, revealed that just about 7 million Black women – out of 12 million within the country – live in states with abortion restrictions or bans. The findings highlight the disproportionate impact these laws have on women of color, further exacerbating existing health disparities.

In response to Amber Thurman’s death, In Our Own Voice released an announcement describing how her death reflects the risks facing Black women across the country:

“What happened to Amber Nicole Thurman was entirely avoidable, but this is the post-Dobbs reality for many Black women, girls, and genderqueers who live in states like Georgia that not only restrict access, but criminalize this procedure. Doctors are unable to provide the best medical care possible, and black women – who already face disproportionately high maternal mortality rates – are dying preventable deaths.”

A call to motion and reflection

As the 2024 election approaches, abortion rights will proceed to be a critical issue for voters. As states exercise their power to find out access to reproductive health care, the lives of tens of millions of women hang within the balance. The query stays: Should abortion rights be restored on the federal level to guard the health and safety of all women?

Vice President Kamala Harris has made abortion a central issue of her campaign and highlighted the risks to women when the law doesn’t allow doctors to intervene, as she did in last conversation with Oprah Winfrey.

“The former president selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention of having them overturn the protections of Roe v. Wade,” Harris explained. “And they did as he had intended.”

“Ultimately, we face the question: What kind of country do we want to live in? And the beauty of democracy, if we can stick to it, is that each of us has power.”

The conversation about abortion is way from over, and this election could shape the long run of women’s health care – and reproductive justice for Black women – for years to come back.

More history

Voting rights advocates in Georgia are asking a state court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by local Republicans that might affect greater than 5,000 voters in the upcoming presidential election.

Lawyers for the Advancement Project, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Arnold & Porter filed a motion to intervene in the case filed by the Dekalb County Republican Party and an activist searching for to force members of the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections to carry challenge hearings that may accomplish that remove over 5,000 voters from the lists before the elections.

How Republicans’ lawsuit could impact Georgia voters

The Republican’s case is pending in state court. Lawyers representing the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the New Georgia Project, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Common Cause Georgia and the League of Women Voters of Georgia hope the courts will dismiss their lawsuit.

“To date, DeKalb County election officials have correctly applied the law. “They refused to hold hearings on the grievance and rejected petitioners’ allegations that thousands of voters, many of whom were voters of color, were improperly registered,” reads a joint press release from voting rights advocacy groups. “If allowed, public hearings on the complaint could disrupt the November election and cause chaos by removing voters on the eve of Election Day – perhaps after early voting begins.”

Legal experts say the request to intervene is meant to stop any voter purge proceedings from being removed and the must file a lawsuit under the nation’s Voter Registration Act if the case goes to federal court.

“This last-minute attempt to purge over 5,000 voters in Georgia is simply a tool to sow chaos and weaken our electoral process,” said Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project. “Requiring that DeKalb County hold public hearings on the complaint would give partisan officials the opportunity to publicly present trumped-up allegations of illegal voting when, in fact, the petitioners are trying to suppress the vote in a predominantly black county.”