Mom confronts store clerk who thought her kids' cultural garments were Halloween costumes

Impact

Clean up in aisle four — someone has been dragged. 

In a video making the rounds on the internet, a woman confronts a store clerk who allegedly, prior to the time of the video, asked her children, who were dressed in traditional cultural garb whether they were "trick-or-treating."

"You're going to apologize to my children for your little racist ass comment," the mother says, pointing a finger at the off-camera clerk. "You asked my son if he was about to go trick-or-treating because you saw him in cultural wear?" 

Mic/Facebook

The mother makes repeated requests of the store clerk, who is bumbling to defend herself, to get her manager on the phone. The mother also says the clerk should have better diversity training and proceeds to school her on cultural sensitivity, especially if they work at a store in a black neighborhood. 

"Are you going trick-or-treating tonight?" she asks the store clerk, folding her arms. "Exactly when in September will my son in African garment be going trick-or-treating?"

Mic/Facebook

She continues, "But you standing in the middle of a black neighborhood and you're going to see three children dressed beautifully..." At this point, the mother trails off because she gets the manager on the phone. After explaining the situation, the mother talks about how employees should act in a black neighborhood. 

"I don't know what the hell y'all do to train these people who work up here, but we live in this neighborhood, we spend money in this neighborhood and as long as y'all in this neighborhood, you will respect the money that makes sure your ass got a check," she says. 

Since the video was published, it has over 16 million views on Facebook and has been shared over 230,000 times. 

Several people commented to say both women were in the wrong — the clerk for her comment and the mother for her actions. Plenty of commenters also felt it was their place to tell the mother how she should have handled the situation. 

"She should have educated the woman on the culture instead of acting like a crazy bitch!" one commenter wrote. Some even called the mother racist. 

Many others sympathized with the mother. 

"I think the mom had to do what she had to do to defend her children," one commenter wrote. "That lady at the counter knew damn well it wasn't Halloween and should have keep her mouth shut. Kudos to the mom for standing up for her children."