We don’t even have to paint a picture where we sit back and imagine walking into a store and having someone follow us, stare us down, or simply accuse us of shoplifting because many of us have already stood in the shoes of Casey.

Casey is the daughter of Rene Syler. We all know Rene Syler as the former co-host of CBS News’ The Early Show, but what we may not know is that Syler owns a home right here in South Carolina and is the owner of a popular blog/ online community, GoodEnoughMother.com where she discusses the topics of motherhood, family and career.  What we also may not know is that Rene Syler is THAT mother you don’t want to test!

During a visit to Freshfield’s Village, Syler’s daughter Casey and a friend went shopping for wallets at the Carolina Girls retail store.  Living in Charleston, we are all very familiar with this brand, seen all over the streets in the form of purses, flip flops, etc.  After entering the store, Syler says her daughter Casey overheard a saleswoman turn to her colleague and say, “Shoplifter” as they both laughed.  Syler says her daughter explained this was not a whisper and the insulting comment was loud enough for her to hear, which caused Casey to put the wallet back and leave the store.

You can peep the WCIV interview below.

Syler posted the store’s apology on her blog HERE where Carolina Girls explained that they have investigated themselves, and they found no wrongdoing (sounds familiar right). The apology issued by Carolina Girls was so awful, we have to take a moment to break this down.  So, not only did no one working at Carolina Girls witness this incident, they also never saw Casey in the store.  However, after conducting an extensive investigation (with people that claim they never saw her in the store) Carolina Girls concluded that the person that called her a “Shoplifter” was a younger shopper who was in the store at the same time as Casey AND they are relived that none of their employees said such a horrible insult. To add insult to injury, Carolina Girls says they are sorry that “anyone patronizing our store would offer such an inappropriate accusation, simply to be hurtful” – in other words, they are stating the Casey is making up her story simply to hurt the store and its employees. The apology is so poorly written, the chain had no choice but to remove it from their Facebook page. Read the apology for yourself below.

This story has since gone viral due to Rene Syler’s influence, but imagine all of the young people who experience this type of treatment on a regular basis from store owners and employees across the country, who have yet to receive an apology or acknowledgment from being falsely accused of stealing simply because of the color of their skin.

We urge everyone to share the #iStandWithCasey hashtag because her experience with this retailer and their employees is the type of experience that people of color are met with on a regular basis.  People of privilege love to make it seem as if these types of experiences are born out of our imaginations, or simply lies at an attempt to creating a “get rich quick” scheme. This experience invokes the memory of Trayvon Martin, who was simply walking down the street with a hood on, but was followed, stalked, harassed, and murdered simply because of the color of his skin – because he “looked like a suspect”. These are the types of experiences we speak of when we demand that random stop and frisks are unconstitutional and illegal, because they are based simply on the fact that we are young and people of color, and for no other reason.

We are glad to hear that brands such as Lily Pulitzer and Vera Bradley have reached out to Casey personally to offer sympathy for her experience at Carolina Girls in Kiawah Island.  This is the type of response we need, people who are willing to speak up when retailers have wronged innocent customers.  Brand names should hold these retailers accountable for their actions and the actions of their employees.

We thank Casey and her mother for bringing these issues to light and revealing that even in 2016, the daughter of a famous anchorwoman can be unfairly judged and profiled when #shoppingwhileblack in South Carolina.