Target customers are expressing their disdain upon discovering “essential” products are being put under lock and key. However, a fellow TikToker believes there is a racial discrepancy in their outrage.
Teri (@tmoorehome) believes there is a double standard occurring on social media—several white influencers are now complaining about items they want to purchase at retailer locations, like Target, being locked up, while many people of color have been decrying the practice for years.
“I don’t know what’s going on at Target because I personally don’t shop there that often but…apparently the white ladies have gone to the Target and all the sh*t’s locked up and they are enraged,” she says in the clip.
Teri references a now-deleted TikTok where a shopper mentions how a Target with locked-up shelves isn’t even in a city and that “there aren’t any homeless people around.”
“Are you not listening to your own video?” she chastises. “You guys are just, I mean you stop short of saying even the white people products are locked up. Like, come on. People who are not white have been telling us about this for a f*cking decade at least and you guys didn’t care. But now it’s your products so you’re mad as hell like, I just, just listen to yourself for like a second please.”
Terri adds a message to those complaining about the locked-up products, writing in the caption, “Whew. Welcome to the ‘Dystopian Hellscape’ the global majority has been living in for a while now.”
@tmoorehome Whew. Welcome to the “Dystopian Hellscape” the global majority has been living in for a while now. Meanwhile @target is closing stores in major cities making access to “basic needs” even harder for marginalized communities. #target #ytwomenfragility #microagression ♬ original sound – Teri 🌈 she/her
Retail workers, like a Walgreens employee who recorded two shoplifters pilfering from the store at different times on the same day, have been reporting mass thefts. There have been a series of smash-and-grab thefts featuring thieves coordinating efforts to “flash loot” stores all across the country. In fact, the state of California has specifically targeted these types of crimes and has allocated funds specifically to handle the “epidemic” of thefts occurring in America.
There have been some individuals who have defended looting, stating that thieves are primarily stealing luxury goods and highly sought-after items in an attempt to resell them so that they can afford to live. The cost of living in the United States skyrocketed 7.8% between 2021 and 2022, the highest ever since 1981, with inflation rates projected to continually rise heading into 2024.
Users who saw Teri’s video appeared to agree with her sentiment, with some folks thanking her for speaking up.
“I saw the same video and couldn’t believe she said what she said lol,” one penned.
Another said that they’ve been encountering locked-up products at the stores they frequent for quite some time now.
“Where I live there’s been locked up merchandise for YEARS,” a user wrote. “I’ve waited AT LEAST 30 mins for someone to unlock baby formula/razors.”
“You nailed it! this was exactly how I felt as well. Glad someone else thought the same,” another remarked.
“They’re feeling what we’ve been saying for years. I hate shopping anywhere because they do that bs. Especially Walmart,” someone else wrote.
However, there was one commenter who said that their city, Chicago, which purportedly has been experiencing a wave of thefts and violent crimes in recent years, does not feature locked-up items in the Target store she frequents. “I’m in Chicago. My target is not like this at all actually this is the first I’ve heard of this,” they said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Target and Teri via email.