Retail giant slammed over controversial T-shirt slogans
Retailer Walmart has come under fire for selling a line of T-shirts accused of mocking the “Black Lives Matter” slogan.
T-shirts on the Walmart Canada website included the phrases ‘Irish lives matter’, ‘Homeless lives matter’, ‘Motorcycle lives matter’, and ‘Red lives matter’.
Other merchandise sold on the US website included the phrase ‘Blue lives matter’ a slogan coined to support police and a T-shirt with the slogan ‘All lives matter’, a slogan that has been used by some who don’t support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Several Twitter users slammed the retailer for promoting messages that have been deemed as dismissive to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Are you kidding me @WalmartCanada? Disgusting. Do better,” one commenter wrote.
“Disgusting @WalmartCanada take this off of your racks,” another commented.
Many people have suggested the variations of slogans are mocking the Black Lives Matter movement with the phrase used as a rallying cry during protests against racism and police killings of black people.
According to website The Real, Wallmart Canada said the items are sold and shipped by a third party seller who they were looking at to see if items sold on its website breach the company's "terms and conditions".
“At Walmart Canada, we stand against any form of racism or discrimination. We promote listening, seeking to understand and embracing individual differences.
“Today, our third-party marketplace has a number of items with variations on the phrase ‘lives matter.’ We will continue to review those items to ensure compliance with our terms and conditions,” they said in a statement.
As of Wednesday (local time), Walmart Canada had removed the “All lives matter’ T-shirt but is still selling a ‘Blue lives matter’ onesie.
Walmart US is currently still selling the ‘all lives matter’ T-shirt online.
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