“Change to Win, a coalition of labor unions, believes that CVS’s practice of locking up condoms at certain stores—commonly in communities of color—creates a barrier to access for young people who are less likely to ask a store associate for them, The Tennessean reports. The group asserts that CVS’s anti-theft policy puts those communities at risk for unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. By surveying more than 2,200 CVS drug stores nationwide, the labor group found that, in nine of the 19 markets where prophylactics are kept under lock and key, the company was at least three times more likely to lock up condoms in communities of color than in predominantly white neighborhoods.” [POZ]
CVS Locks Up Condoms … In Black-Hispanic Neighborhoods
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Michael W.
Then maybe the people in those neighborhoods should stop stealing (among many other things they do).
stephan
@Michael W.: true maybe that lower socio-economic communities tend to steal, but then why is AID’S in the gay male community just as high as in the above mentioned comminities. I don’t think CVS is locking up condoms in the hi- tech neighborhoods. I mean they say they are rich white gays, right?. Why won’t Justin Lance Black use a condom?
Fitz
I fully, 100% support CVS’ right to limit the amount of theft that they have to deal with. They are not a social service agency.
Audrina
@stephan: LOL
Audrina
@Fitz: Yap, just Like democrats are not a social service outlet for our LGBT issues,right?
epluribusunumjk
Things are locked up in these communities all the time. Plus, it’s a private company, we shouldn’t tell them what to do. I hate Wal-Mart because of their anti-gay stance on a lot of issues, but I don’t advocate making them become the next big gay superstore.
Michael W.
@stephan: Because Dustin Lance Black likes the warm, gooey feeling of freshly excreted semen filling his mouth and ass. Why else?
I agree that locking up condoms in CVS has little to do with the spread of HIV, though. If you want condoms, you can get condoms. The point here is that there should be as few barriers as possible between the customer and the condom, but not at the expense of CVS whose first duty is to protect their merchandise.
Cam
Is this a joke? Is a company like CVS supposed to say “You know what? Lets just let all our condoms get stolen because that will really help others.” That is beyond ridiculous.
The Milkman
If there’s a condom theft problem, then perhaps they should contact the AIDS service organization in their area and offer free condoms in addition to the nicer ones that they sell. Not their job, I know… but maybe it would keep them from having to lock up the merchandise, and it would be making nice with the community.
James Davis
I see nothing wrong with this if CVS has supporting data showing condoms in these areas are more frequently stolen than in other areas.
If this is the case the community itself is to blame for the lock and key more than CVS.
However as a single caveat I would offer it would be nice in these areas if CVS did some sort of outreach to dispel the stigma of asking for condoms.
afrolito
@Michael W.:
You racist piece of shit.
The people in “those neighborhoods”? Really?
I suppose white people don’t steal, among the many other things they do.
Fitz
Hey, why don’t we focus on teaching people how to relax when they are getting fucked, so that there is less bleeding?
Michael W.
@afrolito: Oh here we go, Afrolito on time like always to play the race card.
Yes, Afrolito, the people in “those neighborhoods.” Those neighborhoods where CVS needs to take added precaution to protect their merchandise such as locking up condoms. Is there some other way I could’ve referred to them without offending your overly delicate sensibilities?
Yes, white people do steal. However it’s not done at such a frequency in our neighborhoods that store owners need to lock up condoms behind glass doors (so long as the demographics of said neighborhood remain unchanged).
Reason
@Michael W.:
@afrolito:
@Michael W.:
If anyone is looking for a reason why the gay community will never ever be unified, just read this exchange.
Unfortunately we are and will never be above racism and hatred. Latent or expressed.
galefan2004
It couldn’t POSSIBLY have anything to do with those areas being high crime rates. Nah, that can’t possibly be it. CVS is just a bunch of racist bastards.
galefan2004
@afrolito: Rather you like to admit it or not, the majority of inner city neighborhoods are low income and unfortunately the majority of the low income people in inner city neighborhoods are minorities. That is not to say that there are not white people in those neighborhoods as well. Seeing he never mentioned race what-so-ever, I think the real racist here is you for automatically trying to play the black card.
galefan2004
@Michael W.: Ok, you had me until you said that theft isn’t a common occurrence in white neighborhoods. The truth is that theft is a common occurrence in LOW INCOME neighborhoods and it has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the race of the people in that neighborhood.
Fitz
I work in a mostly AA area, and we have ANOTHER whole problem… the major drug stores like Walgrens and CVS are just up and LEAVING. I would rather the expensive, highly stolen items are behind glass than the whole store going bye-bye. This area is so fucked now… where does someone with no car get their Rx now?
afrolito
@galefan2004:
What fucking planet are you on? He clearly was refering to blacks and hispanics with those comics. Only a complete dumbass would need him to actually spell it out.
Squash the reverse racism bullshit…..IT DOESN’T EXIST, outside of the minds of white racists trying to play tag and pass the buck. I don’t play a “black card”.
sampson
if there’s more theft at these stores than why wouldn’t they lock them up. If you were running a business and in one stores condoms being out was fine, no theft, but in another they were constantly taken what would you do? Think about the social problems? haha PUHLEAZE!
I pliss
@galefan2004: Yeah black steals condoms to have safe sex. and white steal pills to make Tina! same difference right? I live in a mixed area. You are such an asshole it’s not even funny. Yes the race card is pulled because you think it’s OK to say those neighborhoods” it’s the “innuendo” made not the actual saying of race!
@Fitz: and you! you a hole. condoms should be the least of their problems. They lock up razors too do people shave less?
Ted B.
Hell, the CVS across from my suburban office even locks-up the razor-blade refills. Most of the local drugstores and chain supermarkets keep ’em behind the service counter or the check-out due to the high shoplifting levels.
And it’s not economic desperation that drives shoplifting, it’s just plain ol’ thieving that’s to blame. Thirty-forty years ago when I was a kid there were plenty of “poor neighborhoods” where things could and were left out in plain-sight without their being stolen. It’s just a lack of moral rectitude and self-respect…not inherent poverty that drives petty crime.
“I want it, I’ll take it.”
I pliss
@afrolito: You see racist bigots who think that white’s do no wrong don’t see that. In society there are rich blacks, I live in a brownstone that is bought by me might I ad. and there are poor whites that has to live in black hoods cause they can’t afford to live in a white rich area.
The story should have said that they lock up in low income areas rather than high income area. this day and age everyone including ALL races live in low income area because of how much you make! You don’t get to chose where you live when you don’t make alot of money you go where you can afford!
afrolito
@Michael W.:
Yeah great truth teller….blacks and hispanics steal fucking condoms.
White people on the other hand steal fortunes, and wreck the entire world Economy when they STEAL BILLIONS and TRILLIONS, by inventing PONZI schemes. Who is gonna protect us from the the likes of Madoff and all the other Wall Street thieves who have driven us to a possible DEPRESSION??
But by all means, let’s keep condoms away from poor blacks and latinos.
Dabq
If people are stealing them, they have a right to lock them up, but, with the stigma that so many have when buying condoms, and its a stigma in just about any neighborhood for that matter, they may as well just rid of them all together in said neighborhoods.
But, then again, CVS sucks anyways,so, its a moost issue to me.
rhydderch
I once stole a Playgirl when I was in the 6th grade in a very white Oklahoma town
I pliss
@afrolito: You tell um! Where is that study? lol
One of the problems is the lower class doesn’t know of the resources that are out there. If you can’t afford condoms EVERY city gives them out for free. I know NYC does. I haven’t bough a condom in years I go pick them up Health dept or you can call 311 for a location near you! to hell with cvs they suck anyways.
EE Keller
Gay Bigots! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHIP
Omg, most of the people on here are ridiculous!!! If you ever worked in retail, you would know that there are two types of theft – internal and external. Internal theft, from employees, is sometimes greater than external theft. When you deal with a company like CVS which probably has a majority of their workforce under 21 and living with their parents, it is highly likely that the number one item stolen is condoms, and by locking them up it holds the staff accountable (if there is a discrepancy in the inventory, it is proven internal theft). Loss prevention is sometimes handled on a district by district level instead of a nationwide policy. These areas that lock up condoms, most likely had a store inventory done recently that showed they were missing a substantial amount of inventory from that section, hence locking them up! So a company determining what items to keep under lock and key to prevent theft is not a racist or socio-economic issue.
As for my neighborhood, which is suburban and predominately white, there are 4 CVS is a 2 mile radius of my house. These CVS lock up some condoms, but they also lock up disposable razor blades and certain cosmetic items. Why? Because these items are small and EXPENSIVE – they could easily be hidden on person as they walk out without paying. Just because CVS puts a security label, does not mean it’s theft proof. Those who steal for a living have found ways to combat the security tags – they are called “boost bags” and they block the signal so you can walk by the security sensor at the door without the alarm going off.
So unless you are privy to internal communications from CVS, don’t automatically start screaming racism and other outlandish claims.
hyhybt
It depends entirely on whether the “locked up” stores have a bigger shoplifting problem than then out-in-the-open ones. Only if they don’t is there any call to bring race into it.
rbctv
@@Michael W and everyone else using similar comments
The above comments confirm the ongoing issue that we have within the “GAY” community. Classist pricks! Pretentious privilleged people that do not think about how their comments really affect the masses. Comments that are not only racist but classist. Shame on you~! Yes, there are issues of crime within lower income communities but this article has brought up an issue with the division of the races within the gay community.
The funny thing is the same person that may say something like Michael will be the same person holding a sign for equality! While there can be reverse racism, this instance is not one of them. This instance is afrolito trying to educate people that probably haven’t even studied an once of black history and do not understand the plight of lower income people from all backgrounds. Michael, if you have one shred of intelligence…I’m sure you went to college, you would apologize and get yourself educated before you end up like all th others OUT OF TOUCH while you sip your wine in the HAMPTONS.
We are all connected and let us not forget it because one day, you may be robbed by the same person you talk about, then what.
This is the time to be concerned about helping everyone. Even those who may not leave close to us. Get it together people!
Shannon
CVS is a business. They have no obligation to prevent unwanted pregnancy or prevent stds. That’s what “personal responsibity” is for.
I pliss
@rbctv: Well said!
The fact that it’s pride month and we are still separated. Goes to show we scream equality with straight people but we are not equal within the gay society! True there will always be a class of people. but you can be rich and still not wealthy. You can be poor and be wealthy with knowledge. Class is not born it’s grown. Until you walk in the shoes of another you will never be humble enough to understand and appreciate what you have. then you won’t make comments that are to be said from an ignorant 6 grader ahm @Michael W.:
This study is hog wash!! Duane Reed does the same thing rich or poor areas. Educate and put money into helping those less fortunate to understand to use a condom when having sex. Like I said before there are places to get free condoms in inner city area. Not all but most offer. You just have to look.
rhydderch
In my neighborhood the local Safeway closed due very high theft. I mean we can be play these politically correct games and get into race baiting but like many others have said before, this is class issue. They don’t have to lock up condoms and razors in the Marina because most of those folks have money. In my neighborhood those MF’ers would steal the CoinStar machine if it weren’t bolted down. They’re poor and resort to desperate measures. CVS is simply taking preventative loss prevention measures and it’s a damn shame that “Change to Win” is making this about race when it’s all about economics.
Audrina
you mean like the way churches lock us gays out?
BI
Blacks are NOT disproportionally more likely to shoplift. We learned this first thing in Property class in law school.
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featsharrock_shoplifting.shtml
Can I just say as a straight black woman and ally to the gay community its very disappointed to come here and see comments like this. Those of you who are being bigoted here should think of the hypocrisy of blaming black Californians for prop 8. Both groups need to consider that they have a shared perspective. Until you stop being racist please stop comparing your rights struggle to the BLACK civil rights struggle.
Cam
@sampson: You said “Squash the reverse racism bullshit…..IT DOESN’T EXIST, outside of the minds of white racists trying to play tag and pass the buck. I don’t play a “black card”.”
_______________________________________________________
You had me until that comment. Try talking to any of your Asian or hispanic friends and just try telling them that blacks are not racist. They will laugh in your face.
Cam
@BI: You said “Until you stop being racist please stop comparing your rights struggle to the BLACK civil rights struggle.”
_____________________________________________________________
Rights are rights, there are similarities and differences, but pointing out the similaritis in two struggles in no way diminishes another group’s struggle. I could just as easily point out that as a black woman, you never had to fear losing your parents or friends if they found out that you were black.
rbctv
@BI Please do not let these hateful comments change the reality that GAY RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS. They may not be so closely aligned as some are strategically trying to make them to the BLACK struggle but GAY RIGHTS are CIVIL RIGHTS. Civil Rights do not belong to the BLACK community. They belong to anyone that is HUMAN. I stand by the fact that even when we see that some in the GAY community are a little ignorant, our rights are still important and needed. They are not simply for the privileged gay couple so that they can ensure that they get tax benefits but it is so that bi-national couple can stay together. It is so that the poor kid in Arkansas doesn’t have to live in the closet or hang himself in that closet. It is for everyone in every country that is HATEFUL to someone because of their SEXUAL ORIENTATION. I think we all have confirmed that Michael is flawed like many but let’s not get confused. GAY RIGHTS are valid, real and very much needed. POVERTY is real. Wealth needs to be distributed and people in poverty still need help financially and emotionally. We MUST feel the responsiblity for our fellow HUMAN: GAY, STRAIGHT and OTHERWISE.
rbctv
Just wanted to add that everyone here, please continue to support gay rights. The Power, a new gay rights group has an important petition that needs to be signed. Visit them at poweronline.org.
rbctv
sorry..http://thepoweronline.org/
Shannon
@BI:
Why are you throwing straw men like Prop.8 into the mix? What the hell does that have to do with CVS locking up their rubbers? And as a “straight black woman” you are entitled to your opinion, but you don’t get to say what we call or compare our struggle to. If you aren’t gay, then you don’t know my struggle, just like as a white male I don’t know yours. Please stop talking out of your ass. I mean that in a nice way.
Also, if you’re as straight as you claim you might want to rethink the screen name…
J in MTL
@BI
Here, here! It’s nice to have some real stats on the issue, and I just want you to know that there are (necessarily privileged) white gay men out there who are appalled at the commentary here as much as you are.
Obviously we can’t expect corporations to be on the forefront of effecting social change, but we can criticize the way in which our society corporatizes safe sex practices. Perhaps the best thing we can gain from this article is not a free-for-all hatin’ on CVS, (nor especially a RACIST litany of things non-white people have to police amongst themselves) but rather look at new ways of approaching the safe-sex issue. We need better sex education, destigmatization of condoms and, if the government is serious about halting the AIDS epidemic, easily accessible and FREE condoms available everywhere, especially in areas with high AIDS rates. Leave the designer condoms to CVS, just get good quality safe/free ones out there.
sam
@Michael W.: just like guns. there should be as few barriers as possible between my bullet and your oxygen-deprived atrophic brain. think, first. then speak. well, that’s the ideal situation, but for you we’ll have to make an exception, namely, that there is no thinking, so speaking is just as ill-informed, bigoted and stupid as might be expected.
Jonathan
I got bored of reading all the comments about a half dozen or so in, but can I just say…
WHITE PEOPLE LOVE STEALING SHIT JUST AS MUCH AS THE NEXT MAN!!
…and 1 out of 10 people is a regular shoplifter anyway. Not just teenagers y’all! Quit acting like it’s all scandalous please and give the people their protection wherever they may choose to steal it.
Alberto VO5
Is this really queerty?? How can one group that is oppressed (socially, politically) bash another minority group? How can you guys.. assuming that the majority of you are homosexual.. be so accepting of wanting your rights as a group, yet do the very thing that is done to you by overall society? You (all of you stereotypically commenting.. not gays in general)are grossly exaggerating and assuming that those who live in low income housing (generalized to equal Blacks and Hispanics) are of the lowest of the low, and agree that CVS is right in locking up condoms for the sake of protecting their merchandise, all the while a good majority of Americans do the same to you.. grouping you in with pedophiles and the like.
The not so religious right is alive and well, under a new hood called queer. (That’s not to say that all LGBT indentified people are as the few of you all posting on the board)
rhydderch
I think Alberto V05 has said it all. I like the way you think (are you single?)
afrolito
@Cam:
“You had me until that comment. Try talking to any of your Asian or hispanic friends and just try telling them that blacks are not racist. They will laugh in your face.”
BULLSHIT.
Racism is about POWER, and the ability to hold people back in all facets of life. How exactly are black people keeping anyone out of jobs, fair housing, medical care, or anything else that effects lives??
And for the record, there are PLENTY of asians and hispanics who absolutely LOATHE blacks, who they often feel superior too….inexplicably.
Don’t make me laugh in your face.
James
@Cam:
Coming from a mix background I know from experiences from within my own family that there are still people who are all too willing to disown their own children or grandchildren just because of the color of their partner’s skin. Having said that for any group to claim that they are completely free of any racial bias just because of their own background are either in denial or feel whatever racist belief’s they hold are foolishly well justified. Even among groups with the same colored skin you can find people with such hatred toward each other…N. Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sudan, China, and the whole Japanese-Korean thing. Racism still exists within every ethnic group, a crime no group can honestly say their innocent of. That the same kind of bigotry can also be found within the gay community should be of no surprise to anyone.
galefan2004
@afrolito: Reverse racism does exist. More blacks are blatantly racist than whites. You can be a minority and be racist. Also, the black card does exist. Even blacks are appalled by how certain black people abuse their race to get things they want. Don’t blame me that it exist…blame the dude that just got busted for doing something obviously illegal and then tries to claim the only reason he was arrested was because he was black.
galefan2004
@I pliss: Unfortunately, even if you think it should, CVS has no obligation to provide free condoms to the community. If the low income people need to steal the condoms to have safe sex that is truly sad, but that has nothing to do with CVS trying to make a profit.
galefan2004
@Dabq: I agree with what my aunt told her kids, which was, “If you can’t walk into a drug store and intelligently purchase condoms like an adult, you shouldn’t be having sex.”
afrolito
@galefan2004:
“More blacks are blatantly racist than whites.”
I’m guessing you didn’t type that piece of nonsense with a straight face……..since there is no way you could EVER back that up.
Reverse racism = WHITE BULLSHIT
Racism = POWER
When blacks and other minorites control the economic, social, and systemic institutions in this country (and world), then you’ll have an argument.
Right now you’re as fucking ridiculous, as your definition of reverse racism.
galefan2004
@afrolito: See this is where you are wrong. Racism is not about power. It is about hate motivated action. There is plenty of hate motivated action in the black community, the white community, the Asian community, the straight community and hell for that matter, even the gay community.
galefan2004
@afrolito: I said it with a very straight face. Blacks do have more control then you care to let on (especially in the inner city areas). However, I don’t agree at all that racism is about power. Its not about power. It is about hate. I know of many black people that would just as soon shoot a white person than look at them. My step-father started out in a gang mentality earlier in his life and had to stop one of his friends from killing a white shop owner that my step-father was friends with simply because the dude was white. By the way, my step-father is black.
afrolito
@galefan2004:
You’re a fucking idiot.
Racism is and has always been about POWER, as anyone with half a brain knows.
Millions of africans were kidnapped, brought to the americas in the bottom of slave ships, sold, seperated from families, raped, enslaved, lynched, worked to death on plantations, all because of simple hate? All of this took place over the course of CENTURIES, and even after emancipation in this country, blacks had another 100+ years of JIM CROW APARTHEID to deal with. All done because of simple hate according to you.
What control do blacks have in the inner city exactly? I guess the ghetto is such a great place to live, they don’t want anyone else to share in their POVERTY, POOR EDUCATION. That must be why the jails are disproportionally filled with BLACK MEN.
Who are these black people you know who would shoot a white person before looking at them? That’s interesting, considering most black people in jail for committing crimes, are in for murdering, raping, robbing, and assaulting OTHER BLACK PEOPLE.
Not only are you a moron, but you’re a disingenuous one.
Michael W.
@afrolito: Power. You mean like being the President of the United States of America? LMAO! Yeah, the blacks are really powerless.
Oh those poor slaves. For Christ’s sake, how much longer do we have to hear about this shit? I didn’t own any slaves. Nobody alive today owned slaves. Isn’t it about time you get over it and start living for today?
afrolito
@Michael W.:
“You mean like being the President of the United States of America?”
Black america wasn’t elected president…..Barack Obama was. His election wasn’t an end to racism, and all of the systematic and social ills that effect people of color in this country. FACT
His election certainly didn’t end YOUR RACISM.
I love how white people feel they can tell people of color to shut the fuck up about racism, because they voted for the safe, non threatening biracial black man raised by white relatives. Puleeze.
As far as slavery goes, it’s americas GREAT SHAME, and should and will NEVER be forgotten….especially as we’re all living with the consequences of it to this day. No white person alive today owned slaves, but ALL OF YOU are still benefiting from it’s past existence, thanks to a little thing called WHITE PRIVILEGE.
Jews go on and on about their HOLOCAUST, and no one tells them to shut up about it, nevermind the fact it didn’t even occur in this country. They have every right to make sure the world never forgets,lest we are doomed to repeat it.
Michael W.
@afrolito: You summed up the key difference between the Holocaust and slavery with your last words. Jews seek to keep the Holocaust fresh in our minds because anti-Semitism is still rampant throughout the world. Another genocidal event is possible, one that they may not recover from. Israel for example is surrounded by countries who yearn for the chance to exterminate its Jewish population.
But slavery? Who the fuck thinks white people might rise up one day and re-enslave the blacks? LOL. There is no reason to continuously remind us of the past in that situation except to conjure up feelings of white guilt for the sins of the father.
There are no “effects of slavery” today. That’s an excuse to be lazy and abdicate your responsibilities to do for self in reaching the American dream like everyone else. What’s stopping black people from achieving any goal they desire when we’ve elected a black man president, chief executive of the richest government and commander-in-chief of the most powerful armed force on the planet? NOTHING, that’s what.
Bill Perdue
The jackasses who run CVS should give away condoms, lubes, biocides and educational materials about STDs, including HIV/AIDS and HPV, by the millions.
We should insist that they do it.
http://www.cvs.com
TANK
@Michael W.:
It’s true that antisemitism is very much still a problem in the united states and world, and that jews have been the targets of it for thousands of years (the holocaust wasn’t the first one, so to speak). But, I know survivors who were very disturbed by its use by jewish advocacy groups. He said it was distasteful.
afrolito
@Michael W.:
“There are no “effects of slavery” today”
LMFAO! You’re either willfully ignorant, or even more of a dumbass than I ever imagined. Of course we are still living with the causes and effect of the slavery this nation was built on. Absoulutely no one who knows anything about the history of this country would ever deny it….that would include every historian of repute, as well as the man sleeping in the White House tonight.
Going by your ridiculous logic, Congress shouldn’t have had to bother apologizing for slavery the other day….since we now know institutionalized racism is over thanks to the election of Barak Obama. LMFAO!
Yes, people of color can achieve great things with hard work and focus, but none of that erases the very real obstacles we have to overcome, and struggle with, in a system set up for our failure.
galefan2004
@afrolito: Racism is NOT NOW and never has been about power. It has always been about HATRED. It has nothing at all to do with power.
I guess it would really suck when I point out that: 1) Those millions of slaves were not kidnapped by whites they were kidnapped and sold by warring villages made up of BLACKS. 2) Slavery was common practice between those warring villages. 3) As much as the blacks hate to admit it, it is your very ancestors that orchestrated the slave trade. 4) I (nor any of my ancestors) never personally owned slaves, and I flat out refuse to be blamed for something I am not personally responsible for. 5) You think slavery is the worst thing the United States ever did? They exterminated an entire race of people. I think that might be a little worse than making some blacks work on their farms instead of leaving them in Africa. You do realize the places slaves were taken from are now absolute shit holes right?
Rather you like to admit it or not, the inner city is dominated by BLACK ON BLACK crime. That is right. The inner city is ran by gangs (which are primarily black) and those gangs have a great deal of power in the inner city. On the other hand, jails are disproportionately filled with black men because black men are more likely to be convicted of drug crimes and the system is more likely to be harsh on black drug offenders.
It is common knowledge there are certain neighborhoods in pretty much every city I have ever been in where you don’t go after dark. Why is that? Its not because they are dominated by white people. Also, my black step father is 10x as racist and has many more problems with blacks than I ever have had. He is the one that yells at me when I talk to blacks. I once made the mistake of letting a black man into my home to use my phone (it was one of my neighbors) and my step-father was convinced that this person was just casing the joint and would be back to rob me later. He has even said not to trust blacks (flat out said it) and that the only good black is a dead black (flat out said that too), and did I mention, HE IS BLACK!
galefan2004
@Michael W.: You mean you want them to remove their number 1 claim to victimization. How do you expect the black population to live if they stop pulling the victim card. They might have to own up and realize that the reason black and white relations are strained in this country is because of the blacks as well as the whites.
galefan2004
@afrolito: I don’t know, but personally, I think that exterminating an entire race of people goes way above owning a couple blacks when it comes to Americas great shame. Stop thinking blacks are special as the only group that America has ever dumped on. They aren’t. America dumps on every group it doesn’t like from the Natives to the Blacks to the Japanese to the gays. It all depends what decade it is.
TANK
I don’t believe in reversisms, in general.
TANK
Is CVS being racist here? There’s not enough information.
Dennis
GODDAMN IT, people, every single fucking day Queerty posts their daily soft-core porn pictorial, their daily Obama bashing, and their daily race-baiting article…it’s like clockwork.
This fucking site is cracking me up right now…and yet here I am, drawn into this web of bullshit as well…have fun getting all pissed at each other, and hurling insults and accusations …but just know that we’re all being played.
These motherfuckers probably laugh their asses off at us at “Queerty central”.
galefan2004
@afrolito: As the black guy on the Daily Show said, “I thought Barac Obama was the apology for slavery.” Also, you fail to realize that if this nation was “built on slavery” how come it was illegal in the majority of the nation from the very first time it was introduced to this nation. The southern states might have been built on it but the northern states were not. I do believe that it still influences the south more than the north to this day.
more ale in my tea AKA morality (fkd up & disgusting)
The idea that we should seriously debate whether a corporate merchant is appropriate or not with regard to its activity in a public health issue is amazing, but not surprising given the culture of the US.
The fact is condoms are very easy to get and if they aren’t then you can’t blame CVS … just your politics.
more ale in my tea AKA morality (fkd up & disgusting)
And don’t argue that it is their duty to participate harmoniously with this very real public health issue … my dear naysayers, for your argument would die at the heels of the TOBACCO INDUSTRY…whom rely on these distrubutors for their victims.
Pass me a Jameson neat, I’m thirsty
Kid A
@afrolito: I ABSOLUTELY dispute the idea that racism is about power. Racism is the concept that one race is better than another because of qualities unique to that race. That often leads into hate, as other commenters have pointed out.
You bring up race so much on this site, why do I have to be giving you the definition of racism rather than the other way around?
You seem to be confusing it with discrimination, which is much more related to positions of power.
epluribusunumjk
Wow – I think everyone needs to calm down on this site.
Look, I grew up in a pretty rough hood, and lemme tell you, condoms can be had from a lot of different places including public service offices that can be found in any major city.
Bottom line is: I am tired of this government taking over and mandating what companies can and cannot do. Walgreen’s in the city near me locks up its eye drops, and when I have allergies, I have to go and find someone who is working there and embarrassingly ask them to unlock the case so that I can get my drops. Yeah it sucks – b/c then I put my gross eyes on display for the clerk to see – but life’s a bitch like that.
more ale in my tea AKA morality (fkd up & disgusting)
@ eplunkididoo or whatever..
life is a bitch things are fucked up…your eyes are gooey because of pollution, bacteria blooms etc…all gross and then you have to eat crow and beg for drops…
what an all around depressing world…where is my drink?
galefan2004
@Kid A: I understand where he is coming from, and I honestly do feel for him on it. I’m not racist, but my god hearing black people bitch about slavery and about how the man is trying to keep them down gets so old after awhile that I just lose it. I have a black step-father and one of the reasons I am so close to him is because he has never once tried to use his race as an explanation or excuse for anything. My mom experiences plenty of racism from both blacks and whites because she is with a black man though.
Bill Perdue
@Kid A: @galefan2004: You’re both products of an educational system that produces unthinking party line racism.
Racism was not always associated with slavery. The Romans manumitted slaves who could purchase their freedom irrespective of skin color. Modern ties between slavery in the Americas and racism were invented to justify the horrors of slaverym the middle passage and the enslavement of native peoples.
The middle passage took millions of lives, as did the genocides against native Americans and Africans. There were two distinct kinds of slavery in English north America, the temporary indentured form for European slaves and the chattel form used to enslave kidnapped Africans and their descendents. Racism was used to justify chattel slavery as soon as the first African slaves were landed in Virginia, a year before the Mayflower. The importation of kidnapped Africans exploded exponentially and to prevent them running away, as European indentured slaves did, racism was introduced in colonial legislatures and defended by christer preachers, particularly Presbyterians. They described Africans as the spawn of Ham (whatever the fuck that is) and declared that gawd wanted slavery, just as later they declared that “gawd’s in the mix” and hates SSM.
From 1650 to 1725 racist ideology began to acquire the force of law. In 1163 the Maryland Assembly passed a law which, for the first time, assigned to African slave and their children the status of “perpetual servants”. These new laws spread throughout the colonies and were a radical departure from the laws that governed indentured slavery. Other discriminatory laws followed, forbidding intermarriage, teaching slaves to read and write, legalizing torture and enslaving the children of slaves and declaring that slave had no parental or familial rights.
Racism is about nothing but power: the power to enslave, the power to create apartheid system and the power to pay lower wages and provide vastly worse conditions in housing, education, treatment before the law, nutrition, medical care and etc. The hatred coexistent with racism, homobigotry and the hatred of women are not part of ‘human nature”. They’re symptoms of modern capitalist degeneracy and they’ll disappear when it disappears.
In the meantime, before you make fools of yourselves, do a little reading. Unless that is you want to be compared with David Duke. RIF, fellas, RIF.
Afrolito is an idiot for supporting an anti-GLBT bigot like Obama but he’s absolutely right about the in intersections of slavery and racism.
[img]http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:sCei81jTehwxGM:http://imet.csus.edu/imet1/desler%5B/img%5D
Rowen
Bill,
I think most of us will agree that that is racism. But, as one of two white guys working in a predominantly black and hispanic company, what should I call it when my co-workers make cracks about white and asian folks, the type of jokes and impressions that if I did about blacks, would get me beat up or severely reprimanded from HR? I would call that racism too. Sure, it doesn’t block someone from getting a job, but it continues to extend that belief that one set of people are somehow different, and thus worse, then another.
As for this whole “slavery vs the Holocaust” thing, here’s my take. Slavery, while extremely heinous, isn’t fresh in anyone’s minds. There are no former slaves alive, and none, or very few, people who heard a slave’s account first hand. Also, there are very few white people, well, maybe not in certain areas, who’s families had anything to do with slavery. My family, for example, was already here (Comanche) or came over during the Irish potato famine, and suffered a racism that was almost as bad as what blacks in the north had to go through (which, convienently, the Irish and Italians got over that racism enough that no one even knows how much of a buzz word calling someone a “Molly” was). As such, I can look at slavery, and think it was horrible, but then when someone, who I don’t even know if they’re family was affected or not (not all blacks in America descend from slaves), demanding reparations . . . well, I just have to point them to the tribes and reservations of my people and show them a different example of hundreds of years of racism.
As for the Holocaust, it was short and it was deadly. It was racism taken to the upmost extremes. And there are still people alive today who can describe the exact horror that went on and why it should never happen again. Not to mention, it’s still ok (in quite a few circles) to say that someone “Jewed” you. Compare that to the places that you can say the word “nigger.”
galefan2004
@Bill Perdue: Thank you for your opinion, and for your history of racism. The only problem is that that is history. I really don’t give a damn about slavery because I never owned slaves. I don’t think slavery was acceptable, but I’m not going to be blamed for something I had no part in. While I realize that some (far from all) people exhibit hidden racism today its nowhere as blatant as homophobia. No black person will ever be fired from their job just for being black in this time period. I focus on the here and now, and I’m not racist when it comes to black people that can do the same, but when some person wants to throw up slavery like an excuse for bad behavior (much as has been done in this thread over and over), I will counter them on it. I know black people that will counter them on it to.
Quinn
@The Milkman:
I’m ignoring all the race wank in the rest of these comments because it’s ridiculous, but I just wanted to say that I agree with The Milkman’s assessment entirely.
There are two problems here – potentially high theft rates, which yes, CVS has a right to protect itself from – and the danger of limiting condom access in the communities that could benefit from it the most.
Paul
Yay. Comments.
You know the best thing about websites that let people leave comments? The people writing them think that other people care.
Really… when’s the last time *your* life was suddenly changed by a powerful, um, comment on a gay website?
Right. Log off. Read a book. Have a wank.
Jon
I am an employee of CVS/Caremark and I agree with this move. Unfortunately some neighborhood have high theft. CVS has a right to lock up items like infant formula, condoms, expensive hair products, perfume, and other easily stolen items. I can tell you countless stories of people stealing stuff from a store I used to work at. From baskets of formula to baskets of pain relief to an entire case of perfume (thousands of dollars worth). I remember one day in broad daylight a person came in an stole an entire display of razor blades. Just walked in to the font end cap and walked out. Does locking up formula mean its wrong? NO. Protecting theft of condoms (how easy it is to open a box and steal 12 by putting them in your coat, easy) by locking them up is okay. Also, considering the fact that CVS sells a box of $40 condoms for 12 that were frequently stolen, it only makes sense.
Justin
Why should it matter in communities with “Planned Parenthood” programs that provide free contraceptives under complete confidentiality. I used to frequent them as a teenager because yes condoms were expensive then as they are now. You walk in, fill out some forms, talk to a doctor about safe sex, they give u a bag with like 50 condoms plus lubricant regardless of sex, color, etc. Women were also able to obtain oral birth control as well without a parents consent.
Shannon
@Paul:
And yet you left a comment. I believe that’s called “irony”…
Bill Perdue
Often the counterfeit scorn of people like Paul “look at me, I’m soooo jaded” is used to compensate for very low self esteem.
And just as often that very low self esteem is based on realistic self-appraisal.
tomtkent
ok stop it . i am a manager at CVS and I can tell you that CVS no longer locks up condoms at any stores due to this BS about racism. Its not racist at all just realistic to the Loss Prevntion issues at various stores in various locations. I manage an inner city store and if I could, I would lock up a hell of alot more than just condoms. I fought tooth and nail to keep my condoms and pregnancy test kits locked up. Did I do this because I am racist? No!! I fought it because my pay, and my job itsself, is based an many metrics one of which is shrink ( the amount of product lost to internal/external theft).So , when you steal condoms or anything else from the CVS I manage you are stealing me and my family, an dputting my job at risk.
As for CVS ,as a company ,being racist or biased against any group its ridiculous. Look into the diversity programs CVS has. The outreach programs they have in mainly black and hispanic neighborhoods. It is not in their interest at all to alienate any group, but it is in their interest to protect their mechandise against loss.
One more thing about this “bigoted” company I work for. CVS recognizes my husband of 13 years , provides health insurance for him, and our daughter, whose adoption has been virtually paid for by CVS through their legal plan, and is the only company in my 30 year work history in retail, that has a written non-discrimination policy that includes all minorities , including LGTB people.
Its easy to shout rascism ( or homophobia) , its much harder to investigate what your talking about, actually get the facts and make a reasonable decision about the intent of a companies (or a person’s)actions based on research.
M
Meh. People really need to get over slavery, and realize that what came after it was much more heinous. 100 of years of “fake” freedom did much more damage than slavery could ever have done its 250+ years.
And I don’t believe for one second Galefan’s stepfather is black. But, whatever.