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From drugstores locking up toothpaste, to some steaks being stolen from Trader Joe’s on video, Rev. Al Sharpton has had enough. And he appeared on MSNBC’s morning talk show to rant about shoplifting – with some dangerous implications for Black people.
Sharpton claims he’s worried about bolstering mass incarceration. But also claimed that “robbing and stealing … is out of control, and is put on the front page of newspapers, which only encourages others to do it.”
But there’s an even bigger theft that he conveniently didn’t mention!
CVS Pharmacy recently paid a $10.4 MILLION penalty for stolen overtime wages and damages. Trader Joe’s and Rite Aid have also been wrapped up in wage theft suits. But corporations don’t get reprimanded on talk shows when they steal from US.
How do you get angry at steaks being stolen, but not companies stealing millions from their workers' paychecks? Poverty is out of control and prices keep rising, but we wonder why people are stealing food.
Black people face the brunt of poverty and criminalization in this country – so Sharpton's words are not only out of touch, but dangerous.
Whether you can't afford to buy something at the store, or you're inconvenienced by products being locked up, the real problem is the out-of-control cycle of incarceration and poverty in this country – NOT individuals stealing from exploitative corporations!