On Tuesday night, Renee Buckner posted a public video on her Facebook page. As of Wednesday afternoon, Buckner’s video had gotten more than 6 million views before it briefly stopped playing on her public Facebook feed (although several pages, including ours, uploaded it later). It then went back up on Facebook before it stopped playing again on Thursday afternoon.
Here is what Buckner posted about the video: “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. Storyline: This Hispanic lady was purchasing items and the transaction was almost complete, then her friend brings up some shirts to be added to her purchase instead of getting in line. And this lady went off!!! Warning explicit language FYI…this wasn’t the entire scene, people tried to let her know it was out of order, but she wasn’t hearing that. #exposingTheRacism #louisvilleKy #prayForAmerica”
Here is part of what the woman said in the video:
Go back wherever the f*ck you come from, lady. Hey. Tell ’em to go back where they belong. You know, they come here to live and they act like they’re everybody else. Get in the back of the line like everybody else does and be somebody. That’s the way I look at it. You’re a nobody. Just because you come from another country, it don’t make you nobody! Nobody as far as I’m concerned. You’re probably on welfare, the taxpayers probably paid for all that stuff. It’s true! We probably pay for every good of that stuff. You know that. Probably all the food they get and everything else. I’m sorry but that’s the way I feel. That’s ok. Speak English, you’re in America! If you don’t know it, learn it. I’m sorry that I’m that way, but you all need to realize, you’re not the only ones around here.
In case you are wondering, the Jefferson Mall has responded with a statement:
“We are aware of the video posted online today from inside JCPenney. Jefferson Mall strives to create a comfortable and convenient experience for all of our guests and we absolutely do not condone this type of behavior. We will work with JCPenney to identify this woman and once identified, she will be permanently banned from Jefferson Mall, per our Behavioral Code of Conduct.”
This is what Louisville mayor Greg Fischer posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon:
JC Penney has also released a statement:
“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. We regret that innocent bystanders –both other customers and a JCPenney associate– were subjected to such discriminatory remarks. We absolutely do not tolerate this behavior 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.”
According to NBC News, Buckner did not want to talk to the media and instead directed media requests to her pastor, who said the following:
“She said there was so much more that didn’t get taped, and that they did end up taking down the cameras to actually confront the lady, because she talked about how Donald Trump is going to ‘fix’ this,” said Pastor Timothy Findley, Jr., of Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center in Louisville, where Buckner has been a church member for the last four years. “But she felt really obligated to get this on camera.”
