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'Grocery shopping while black' | Raley's shopper pushes for change after shoplifting accusation

Grocery shopping while black. That's all Zhalisa Clarke said she was doing, when she was falsely accused of shoplifting from a Raley's in Citrus Heights last month.

Sacramento, Calif. — Grocery shopping while black. That's all Zhalisa Clarke said she was doing, when she was falsely accused of shoplifting from a Raley's in Citrus Heights last month.

Clarke said she has been informed that the employee involved was terminated for calling police against a store manager's orders. However, Clarke wasn't looking for vindication or publicity. What Clarke wanted was change.

"This is an issue happening all over the country," Clarke said. "It's bad for business."

Clarke would know, she has her MBA from Harvard, which is also partly why she admits she never expected something like this to happen to her.

"I was shocked and a lot of friends were shocked that this would happen to someone like me," Clarke said. "This incident is an example or evidence that this is happening to everybody in this country that looks like me, regardless of education or socioeconomic status."

Clarke and her friend, both from the Bay Area, were stopping through Sacramento while on a road trip.

"We spent over $200 at the grocery store," Clarke said. "I would later find out I spent too much time in the deli meat section."

Clarke said she was accused of stealing deli meat, which she found ironic because she is vegan. As they were leaving the parking lot, a Citrus Heights police officer approached. She was surprised when the police approached her and asked if they had paid for their groceries.

Clarke said they were asked to show their receipt and match each of the grocery items. Clarke added that the officers looked through all of their camping gear. She later posted about her experience online and reached out to Raley's leadership team, hoping to have an impactful discussion and move forward with change.

"The ACLU got involved," Clarke said. "They agreed to commit to some of the things I requested.”

On the Raley's website, a statement from this month states:

  • We have reiterated our policies against discrimination with all team members.
  • Annually, all employees will be required to take diversity and inclusion training including a focus on explicit and implicit bias.
  • As part of new hire orientation, new hires will be required to take an enhanced inclusion and bias training within the first week of hire.
  • A proven third-party firm with expertise in diversity and inclusion will be utilized to influence the development of all training materials and processes as well as provide other recommendations.

Clarke hopes the training will be taken seriously and that more companies will follow Raley's lead.

"My goal in all of this is to prevent this from happening to anyone again," Clarke said. "[Be proactive] and not wait until something happens. So all customers, regardless of what they look like, [get] treated with respect and dignity."

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