A White woman, nicknamed “Target Teresa” by online users, was recorded harassing a group of Black women at a Target in Tennessee last week, according to the New York Daily News.

A since-deleted video of the encounter posted Friday on Facebook has gone viral after being re-shared on Twitter and YouTube. In it, the woman told the Black customers they did not belong in the store and accused them of talking about lewd acts in public.

The NASA sweatshirt-wearing woman accosted the group and said, “You were talking about sex in public. Are you having sex in public because that’s what you screamed out loud.”

The three Black women tried to explain to Target Teresa that she misunderstood their conversation about Eartha Kitt’s role in the 1992 comedy Boomerang. At one point during the encounter, they even try to ignore the aggressor.

The woman persisted with her accusations, calling the Black women “abusers” and “trained liars.”

Two workers from Target intervened to de-escalate the situation.

One of the women from the video spoke to Yahoo Lifestyle about the confusion of the incident.

“My cousin and I were visiting my best friend from out of state and we stopped by Target to buy a phone charger,” she said. “I told my friend to try on a hat that looked like something Eartha Kitt’s character would wear in the film and she said no because her character had sex with a younger man.”

At that moment, Target Teresa interrupted their conversation, accusing them of speaking about sex in public.

“We were confused—then, she came around the corner with her shopping cart and started ranting, ‘You don’t belong here’ and calling our conversation inappropriate.”

This incident of racial microaggression follows reports of several others including “Permit Patty” and “Newport Nancy.”

Racism
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