Following last week’s Charleston church massacre that left nine dead, there have been countless calls to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina government property. In fact, a MoveOn petition requesting the removal of the flag has garnered more than half a million signatures, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for its removal during a press conference earlier today.
Now the country’s largest retailer has taken a stand.
Walmart announced today that it will no longer sell Confederate flag merchandise in its stores and online.
Walmart spokesman Brian Nick had the following to say:
“We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer. We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our web site. We have a process in place to help lead us to the right decisions when it comes to the merchandise we sell. Still, at times, items make their way into our assortment improperly — this is one of those instances.”
While removal of the Confederate flag will in no way eradicate systemic racism, Walmart’s decision is undoubtedly a step in the right direction (although one might question why the retailer sold Confederate flag merchandise in the first place…).
[via CNN]
