A Banana Republic clothing store in White Plains, New York, is without a manager as of Oct. 4.
Destiny Tompkins, 19, posted about the incident on Facebook Wednesday, explaining that her manager, a white man, brought her into his office to talk about her hair.
“He said, ‘The district manager came in and she pointed out your hair.’ I said, ‘What is wrong with my hair?'” Tompkins recalled to ABC 7. “‘It is a little too urban and unkempt for our look and image. We were wondering if you could take them out,'” she says he replied.
Livid, Tompkins spread the news on Facebook, which instantly went viral.
Hey @BananaRepublic
Your management told this employee that her natural hair is not welcomed. Do you agree? Retweet this y'all. pic.twitter.com/jPdkaBL7PJ
— Black Aziz Ansari Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.(@Freeyourmindkid) October 5, 2017
“Box braids are not a matter of unprofessionalism, they are protective styles black women have used for their hair and to be discriminated against because of it is truly disgusting and unacceptable,” Tompkins wrote in her Facebook post. “There’s no reason why a white person should feel allowed to tell me that I can’t wear my hair the way that I want bc it’s too black for their store image.”
The post went viral, racking up more than 53,000 shares so far, and on Monday, Banana Republic told BuzzFeed the store manager has been fired.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
