Tashira is a Virginia attorney who took to her TikTok with a video slamming customers for driving a black-owned business, Hanifa, to close. The brand recently faced backlash over shipping delays following a pre-order sales event. Many customers complained that they didn’t receive packages or an email confirmation by the said date. Whether this email was received “caused a frenzy online,” with some arguing “that this wasn’t the first time this happened.”
The founder of Hanifa has since posted a notice, stating “that they’re closing until further notice.” The message reads, “When something goes wrong at this level, you don’t argue the cost. You deal with it, and you take responsibility.” The statement addresses how “in some cases, we weren’t even given the opportunity to handle an inquiry because it went to social media first.” The Virginia attorney responds, “I am honestly enraged.” She has discussed “the so-called scandal and at the very least the backlash” in a previous video.
Tashira explains how she avoided posting the video on TikTok to avoid the algorithm, which was “privileging the negative commentary.” She explains that “in that video, [she] did her best to provide a nuanced analysis.” She states that “we can hold any business accountable, and we should.” However, the Virginia attorney argues that “we also have to understand how grace is deserved.” She says this should especially “be provided to black businesses and black women-owned businesses.” This is because these businesses are often “are doing the most with the least.”
Virginia Attorney Calls Out Hypocrisy
Tashira slams the customers who came after Hanifa. She challenges them to keep the same attitude, “for Jeff Bezos, when you get shipped an incorrect item.” She points out that customers don’t want to go after Amazon even when an item gets lost in the mail. When it happens, customers “are okay with that.” However, she says in the case of Hanifa, “[customers] are just going to get online and dogpile a black woman business owner.” The Virginia attorney adds, “It is absolutely enraging.” She explains, “We can hold accountability and grace simultaneously.” She asks, asking, “Can you walk and chew gum?”
While she’s “sorry [customers] didn’t get your order on time,” she reminds them “that it was a pre-order.” The Virginia attorney states, “Many of ya’ll have no problem dealing with these white mega multi-million dollar businesses that have done worse.” She describes this as “internalized anti-blackness.” Tashira continues, “If you aren’t in the position to add a response that is thoughtful, that is measured, that adds value to a conversation, shut up.”
She concludes the video with some choice words and says, “To get online and contribute to a discourse that was not actually helpful, when you don’t do it with other white-owned brands, it’s problematic.”
