Walmart Becomes The First Store To Remove All Confederate Flag Merchandise

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Walmart is leading the nation by announcing it will remove all Confederate flag merchandise from its stores, according to a scoop by CNN.

CNN politics reporter MJ Lee tweeted the statement from Walmart spokesman Brian Nick:

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“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.”

CNN reached out to Amazon & eBay, which MJ Lee says both sell various forms of Confederate flag merchandise, but they haven’t responded.

On CNN, Lee writes, “The announcement is the latest indication that the flag, a symbol of the slave-holding South, has become toxic in the aftermath of a shooting last week at a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina.”

This is an interesting move by a company that is desperately trying to revamp its public image. First they raised wages finally and now they are taking a lead on a moral and ethical issue that is the cause of deep pain for many in this country.

This is a big win for the anti-hate side, because Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, with over 11,100 stores in 27 countries. With Walmart removing merchandise with the Confederate flag on it, the days of mass public denial and pretending it is not a hate symbol are coming to a close.

Sarah Jones

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