Walmart, Google, eBay, Amazon, Sears, And Etsy Say Why They’re Banning The Confederate Flag
In the wake of the Charleston shooting massacre last week, many businesses have decided to remove the Confederate flag from their shelves. This was largely in response to the massive — and disturbing — increase in sales of the Confederate flag online, CNN reports. Here are statements from businesses on why they’ll no longer sell the Confederate flag.
Brian Nick, a spokesperson for Walmart, apologized and said they never wished to offend anyone by selling the Confederate flag.
“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.”
A Google spokeswoman wrote in an email to Re/code why they won’t be listing the Confederate flag on Google Shopping.
“We have decided to remove content containing the Confederate flag from Google Shopping and Ads. We have determined that the Confederate flag violates our Ads policies, which don’t allow content that’s generally perceived as expressing hate toward a particular group.”
eBay’s Johnna Hoff told Newsweek they believe the Confederate flag is racist. They also issued a Tweet saying they wouldn’t allow the confederate flag on their site anymore.
“We have decided to prohibit Confederate flags, and many items containing this image, because we believe it has become a contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism.”
eBay will now ban the sale of the #ConfederateFlag and its image.
— eBay Newsroom (@eBayNewsroom) June 23, 2015
Amazon gave CNBC a quick statement on the offensiveness of the Confederate flag.
“Our intention is never to offend. We all recognize the great sensitivity around this and have removed the item from our website.”
Sears told Newsweek they’re presently in the process of removing the Confederate flag from their online marketplaces. Sears noted they don’t sell the flags in their physical stores.
Etsy has been the latest company to join in on banning the flag. A company spokesperson issued a statement to WIRED.
“Today, we are removing Confederate flag items from our marketplace. Etsy’s policies prohibit items or listings that promote, support or glorify hatred and these items fall squarely into that category.”
What happened in Charleston was horrific, but it has rallied support to strike down the obvious racist bigotry the Confederate flag represents. Something that should’ve been done a long time ago.
[Photo via Ringo H.W. Chiu/Getty Images]
