Walmart is getting some flack right now for a Black Lives Matter shirt they were selling that read “Bulletproof. Black Lives Matter.” It wasn’t sold directly by Walmart; it was offered by a third-party seller.
A Walmart spokesman said:
“Like other online retailers, we have a marketplace with millions of items offered by third parties that includes Blue Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter merchandise. After hearing concerns from customers, we are removing the specific item with the ‘bulletproof’ reference.”
The national Fraternal Order of Police wrote a letter to Walmart asking them to pull this product. They didn’t have trouble with the “Black Lives Matter” phrase on the shirt, just the “bulletproof” bit. They said that James Pasco, the executive director of the group said:
“The bulletproof thing goes to the new assertiveness of some violence prone individuals to take action directly against police. We find it offensive for that reason.”
There’s already enough violence; we don’t need to incite more.
Pasco also said:
“There are a lot of people who feel too many guns are sold. Why not speak out against things that might be seen as fomenting violence, rather than things that commit violence?”
Some people said that Walmart was profiting from “racial division.” This “Black Lives Matter” versus “Blue Lives Matter” debate has sparked a lot of anger and hostility. Both of these slogans have caused a lot of tension this year. Some Republicans started saying “Blue Lives Matter” because they took the side of the cops in the shootings.
As one of our Liberal America authors, David Christopher, said:
“I am not anti-police. I am anti- police brutality. I am very pro-justice and pro- public safety. I have respect for the men and woman of law enforcement who do the job without brutality and do it to protect everyone.”
https://youtu.be/-t7bKB1MeG4
Featured image via YouTube screenshot.
