“What’s the Reason?”: Woman Claims Walmart Reportedly Denied Her Son Entry Over His Appearance

A woman's video has sparked debate online after she claimed Walmart staff refused to let her son enter the store because of his appearance. During the exchange, she also told an employee that her son has mental disabilities, raising questions among viewers about what led to the encounter.

However, despite that probability, the woman tried to paint a picture that Walmart was judging her son based on his physical appearance. During the exchange, the woman suggests she believes the decision was motivated by racial discrimination. The video then shows her speaking with a Walmart employee.

The video begins with the woman explaining the incident. She said that she recently came to Walmart with her son, Willie, but was told that he could not enter the establishment. She says this while approaching a Walmart employee with her video on record.

As she approached the man, she said, "I'm tryna figure out why he can't come in here. Like what's the reason, because he has a mental illness. He is bipolar schizophrenia. So, what's going on?" As she got within talking distance with the employee, he greeted her, "Hi, how are you doing, ma'am?"

She responded, then he began to explain to her, but quickly realized that she was recording and asked, "Are you recording?" She admitted, "It's a public place. We can record." He then explained, "Ok, so it's Walmart policy. You can't." He continued to explain that if they were talking out in public it would be fine, but because they are inside a Walmart store, which is a privately owned enterprise, she would not be able to record their conversation.

She obliged and said she would turn the recording off, pretending to by turning the phone away from the employee, but the video kept recording. She wasn't able to fool the employee, so he refused to continue the conversation and let her know why Walmart denied access to her son.

He said, "So, you didn't turn the recorder off. We can talk once it's off." As if she didn't understand Walmart's no-recording policy, she asked again, "But what's the problem of me recording? You saying that my son can't come in here."

When the man confirmed again that she couldn't record in Walmart due to their policy, she said that she always records when she's in the store. He explained again, "So, if we know you're recording we can ask you to stop. And if you don't, we can ask you to leave."

Concerning Walmart's no-recording policy, this commenter wrote, "Walmart is NOT a public place, it is a private business and can request that people not record in their premises."

Someone else pointed out, "Cameras don't lie and they tag you as soon as you walk in the door if you're a 'regular'." So, if her son is indeed a "bipolar schizophrenia" and has been disruptive in the past, then that may be the reason behind the denial of access.

Another commenter said, "He's schizophrenic so he has probably caused lots of problems before." However, if there is no evidence of her son's disruptive behavior due to his mental disorders in the past, then this is nothing more than racial profiling.

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the circumstances surrounding the incident or why the man was allegedly denied entry. The claims in the video are based solely on the woman's account, and Walmart had not publicly commented at the time of writing.