Activists protest CVS over condoms
Quote:
Activists protest CVS over condoms
By Elizabeth Lazarowitz
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, February 14th 2009, 8:30 PM
CVS stores in communities of color are far more likely to keep their condoms under wraps than in predominately white neighborhoods, community activists charged.
A fifth of New York City CVS stores keeps its condoms in locked cases, but that jumps to over half in areas where most of the residents are minorities, according to labor union coalition Change to Win.
The group charges that the lockdown discourages condom use in minority areas, which have been hit especially hard by HIV and AIDS. Of the 17 city CVS stores with secured condoms, 11 were in neighborhoods that were less than half white.
Having to ask a clerk for help is awkward and embarrassing, said Valerie Byrdsong, 33, a shopper at a Harlem CVS where all but a dozen small packs were under lock and key.
"Who wants them all in your business?" she asked. "It should be between you and your partner - not the whole neighborhood."
All CVS stores sell some unlocked condoms, and locked displays are used only in shops "where condoms have been heavily shoplifted," said CVS spokeswoman Joanne Dwyer.
|
I have seen 2 news reports on tv and saw a few articles, and the racist word is being thrown around right and left on this. It is racist to lockup condoms in minority areas where HIV and other diseases are a real threat. It is racist even if shoplifting is a concern, since the person might be embarrassed to ask for the condom shelf to be unlocked, thus creating more people to get potentially HIV. The areas they were mentioning on the news here, were all in NYC which actually gives out free condoms, but let us skip that fact. To me this is just crazy while Racism may exist, it is not racism in my mind to protect your money in an area where you know your store is getting robbed, and by this constant abuse of this claim it really does harm I feel to the people who are discriminated against. It also creates a system where people can claim racism, and feel like victims when in certain instances they are not, there is a line and I find it sad that the news and society continues to abuse the claim of racism.