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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tammie Lang Campbell
Honey Brown Hope Foundation
honeybrownhope@verizon.net | 281-499-7966 or 713-854-4879
The Honey Brown Hope Foundation along with Concerned Individuals Blasts Kroger for Failing to Provide a Safe Workplace and Grocery Venue for Blacks
(Missouri City, Texas) Black History Month brings renewed attention to the pain, suffering and the daily violent attacks Black people have endured and are experiencing. To address and expose how Blacks are disregarded, disrespected, and discriminated against, the Honey Brown Hope Foundation along with concerned individuals are questioning Kroger for failing to protect its Black employees and customers from a home-grown terrorist.
On January 9, 2023, around 5:17 p.m. at Missouri City Store # 334, Founder and Executive Director of the Honey Brown Hope Foundation Tammie Lang Campbell, witnessed a Black female store manager, Karly, being verbally assaulted/berated by a white male customer, Ben Sellers (license plate #Texas RGK2879), because of the color of her skin and gender.
This white male customer followed Karly throughout the store and berated her by calling her a ni..er and bi..h. In addition, he told her, “Your black ass ain’t no manager.”
“I was compelled to intervene and demanded that he stop following and berating her,” said Campbell. “I just kept thinking about what if this was my daughter.”
Appalled and disturbed by the incident and to demand accountably, Campbell filed a complaint with Kroger, case number: 53138655 on January 10, 2023, at approximately 10:30 a.m. Later, Campbell discovered his behavior was a consistent pattern of racist attacks upon this Black female manager along with other Black employees.
Please join the Honey Brown Hope Foundation and others for a community alert and press conference on February 15, 2023, in front of Kroger located at: 6200 HWY 6, Missouri City, Texas 77459 at 10:00 a.m.
At the press conference, the community will call for Kroger’s CEO Rodney McMullen (Rodney.McMullen@kroger.com) to share:
- His plan to ban the Ben Sellers from all Kroger stores.
- The company’s policy for protecting Black employees and customers from racial terrorism while working and or shopping at Kroger.
- How the company documents and tracks racially motivated incidents at their stores.
- What the protocol is for customers who exhibit threatening behavior at stores?
- How is surveillance video used in the investigation of complaints regarding threatening, aggressive and racist customers?
“Please don’t stand by silently and allow this racist White customer, Ben Seller, to wreak havoc upon this young Black female employee,” pleads Campbell. “Silence is racism – if you stay silent, Mr. McMullen, the racism will continue!”
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About Honey Brown Hope Foundation
For over 30 years, under the leadership of our Founder and Executive Director Tammie Lang Campbell, The Honey Brown Hope Foundation has contagiously spread hope among young people and their families. The organization works from the schoolhouse to the courthouse and jailhouse to offer programming, resources, and support that align with its causes: civil rights, diversity appreciation, and environmental stewardship.