Aldi, an international supermarket chain, has publicly apologized for the racist attack that a Ghanaian-German shopper was subjected to inside one of its stores.
In the original video posted by Prince Ofori, a German-Ghanaian dance teacher, a number of shoppers in a Berlin store can be seen yelling at Ofori in German, and a man in a blue jacket throws a cardboard box at him. “He wants to buy n****r kisses,” Ofori says in the video, according to the Associated Press. “I told him n****r don’t exist anymore. They think that because they grew up with (the term), they have the right to say that.” Near the end of the video, Ofori is pushed out of the store by the same man wearing a blue jacket, whom Ofori claims is the branch manager, and a security guard.
In the caption copy translated from German, Ofori gives a bit more backstory to the frantic scene. “RACIST ATTACK AT @aldinord‼ ️ TRIGGER WARNING! It cannot be that, as a Black person, I cannot do my shopping normally in 2021 without being insulted with racist remarks, pelted with objects and then portrayed as the person who behaves “wrongly” when expressing their displeasure,” he wrote.
“This happened after the word ‘N *** R KISSES’ was pronounced several times in my direction and I pointed out that the word ‘N *** R KISSES’ is NOT to be accepted these days and is considered an insult‼‼,” he continued. “…The branch manager viewed the situation as a threat and I was thrown out of business in the company of several people, including a security officer and the branch manager.”
The chocolate-covered marshmallows have been referred to by the racist name Negerküsse in Germany since they were created over 200 years ago and although the original name has since been changed and recognized as inappropriate, it’s still used by older generations.
Aldi Nord has since addressed the disturbing video via social media, releasing a statement condemning racism in its stores, as well as society, and confirming that the offending staff member was fired. The store also reached out to Ofori in an attempt to apologize for the attack.
“The incident in our Berlin store will be investigated so that further lessons can be drawn from it,” Aldi said. “As a first step we have severed ties with the staff member in the video due to his inappropriate behavior.” “We value the diversity of our colleagues just as much as that of our customers. Racism destroys diversity. “We and our employees from more than 80 nations condemn all forms of racism. An incident like the one in Berlin must not be repeated. Not with us. And nowhere else either.”
The German treat was at the center of a racially charged post about Duchess Meaghan Markle in 2018. Confectionary company Super Dickmann founditself under fire for posting an image of a chocolate kiss in a wedding dress along with the caption “What are you looking at? Wouldn’t you also want to be Meghan today?” for the couple’s nuptials. The company since apologized and deleted the post, and their spokesman Bernd Roessler referred to the stunt as “stupid and embarrassing.”
