Singer Jazmine Sullivan has accused Macy’s employee, Mary King of racism, after she and her family had a racist encounter with the woman at the Willowgrove Macy’s on Juneteenth. Sullivan was shopping at the suburban Philadelphia mall when she had the racist encounter with the woman, according to MadamNoire.
Sullivan posted about the racist encounter on her Instagram stories. The singer was shopping with her boyfriend’s mom on Juneteenth when King was apparently unhelpful and racist. King allegedly had a look of contempt on her face as she worked the register, and Sullivan put her on notice.
“Wow to look racism in the eye, and especially on Juneteenth was a wakeup call,” wrote Sullivan. “Mary King at Willowgrove Macy’s look of disgust while ringing up my boyfriend’s mother will forever be etched in my mind.
An honest mistake (the store’s mistake btw) should’ve been met with understanding and kindness. But if you’re prejudice and prejudge people as soon as they walk up to the register then that’s obviously too much to ask.”
“News flash, Mary,” she continued “Black people got money, good jobs and ain’t tryna to get over on ur boy cut frumpy looking racist a**.
Thank God for the Black employee who tried to rectify the situation (that u didn’t listen to. I wonder why u didn’t take her advice, Mary?) This coulda went a whole different way. U need to be grateful we know Jesus, b***h!”
The post ended with a prayer emoji. Twitter had plenty to say on the matter.
Child what is happening this Juneteenth? Jazmine Sullivan dragging the hell out of Macy’s
— SimplySimone (@simoneumba) June 20, 2021
& to end the night, Jazmine Sullivan reaaaadddd Macy’s for filth. Happy Juneteenth! ain’t it a great day to be black?? https://t.co/VqR7KRdKVi
— pfizerqueen🥳 (@hhaelbackwards) June 20, 2021
Somebody at Macy’s almost caught a fade from Jazmine Sullivan pic.twitter.com/mc4dkxIDEH
— GlockTopickz (@Glock_Topickz) June 20, 2021
Macy’s got Jazmine Sullivan cussing and ready to fight on Juneteenth!
— ᴅᴏʟʟᴀʀ (@callmedollar) June 20, 2021
Why racist playing in my girl Jazmine Sullivan face on #Juneteenth wtf 🥴
— Big Moolah (@hardheadjmoney) June 20, 2021
Macy’s has faced allegations of racism in the past. The department store was sued in 2003 for racial profiling non-white customers. Macy’s was sued again in 2019 for racism by discriminating against Black and Latino people with criminal records.
An organization that helps people with criminal histories called The Fortune Society filed the 2019 lawsuit on behalf of a former employee. The lawsuit claims that Macy’s “often violates” the rights of Black and Latino people per the guidelines according to the New York City Human Rights Law and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Macy’s was also accused of racism when they ran an advertisement of four families in 2018. One of the families was a Black single mother, and the store was accused of using a racist stereotype of Black women for the ad.
The underlying message in this new Macy ad speaks volumes pic.twitter.com/10CbtSXReC
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) November 18, 2018
Macy’s has yet to respond to Sullivan’s accusations.
