Walmart Boots ‘KKK’-Branded Shoes In Response To Civil Rights Criticism
Image via Council on American-Islamic Relations
A pair of questionable hiking boots with “KKK” uttered on its tongues has been pulled down by Walmart.
The shoes, listed under a brand called Harsuny, are described as outdoor boots for tactical, military, hiking, or trekking use, and arrive in black and tan colorways.
Image via Walmart / Google Search
It’s unclear what the initials ‘KKK’, bizarrely emblazoned in red on the tongues and embossed into the sides, represent in this context. Though, in a climate that’s now more in tune with the world’s cultures, it strikes as odd that these boots were made in the first place.
The design echoes a similar pickle that the New York Times was recently caught in when it published a crossword puzzle in a shape likened by many to a swastika on the first day of Hanukkah.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights and advocacy group headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, tells Insider that the organization was tipped off about the footwear via an email, and reached out to Walmart’s corporate offices to “respectfully ask” that the listing be taken down.
“We thank Walmart for dropping an online listing for oddly/poorly-named ‘KKK’ boots after we brought this to their attention earlier today,” CAIR announced in a press release published on Saturday, January 7.
A spokesperson for Walmart tells the news outlet that the boots, added by a third-party seller, were removed as they were “inconsistent” with Walmart’s values as well as in breach of its prohibited-product guidelines.
Walmart adds that although products listed by third-party merchants are screened to ensure they don’t violate its policies, there will be occasions when offensive items like these boots end up on the marketplace. The company says it is investigating how the footwear made it on the platform, and that it will use this incident to improve its moderation processes.
As mentioned in the same report, Walmart in 2020 pledged to become more inclusive and committed US$100 million to open a humanitarian center for racial equity, with the aim of improving diversity in finance, health, education, and criminal justice.
Walmart joined other brands in their efforts to learn to be more racially empathetic in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests fueled by George Floyd’s death in 2020. During this time, Trader Joe’s promised to rebrand food products that originally adopted ethnicity-inspired names like Trader José, Trader Ming’s, and Arabian Joe.
We thank @Walmart for dropping an online listing for oddly/poorly named "KKK" boots after we brought this to their attention earlier today. pic.twitter.com/zqTf2o9jsM
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) January 7, 2023
