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Walmart removes 'KKK' men's hiking boots from website after pressure from civil rights organization

Jan 9, 2023, 11:07 IST
Business Insider
The listing with "KKK" hiking boots has been removed from the Walmart website.Walmart
  • Walmart removed a pair of boots from its website that had "KKK" written on the tongue.
  • The shoes were removed after the Council on American-Islamic Relations notified the retailer.
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Walmart has removed an online listing for a pair of men's hiking boots with "KKK" emblazoned on the tongue.

The retailer dropped the shoes from its website after it was flagged by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group.

"We thank Walmart for dropping an online listing for oddly/poorly named 'KKK' boots after we brought this to their attention earlier today," CAIR said in a press release.

A spokesperson for CAIR told Insider the organization contacted Walmart's corporate offices to "respectfully ask that they be removed" after receiving a tip about the shoes by email.

According to a Walmart spokesperson, the boots were "listed by an outside third-party seller and removed because the item is inconsistent with [the company's] values and violates Walmart's prohibited product policy."

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"We have a process in place designed to prevent third-party sellers from offering inappropriate items on our platform," the spokesperson told Insider. "Still, at times, inappropriate items make their way onto our platform. We are reviewing how this happened and will apply what we learn to further improve our rules and processes to prevent the sale of inappropriate merchandise."

The boots, listed as "Harsuny Men's Tactical Military Hikinh Ankle Boot Outdoor Trekking Shoes," were available in black and tan, both with "KKK" in red visible on the tongue of the shoes above the laces.

Their removal comes on the heels of a November congressional report that found Black hourly employees at Walmart were fired twice as often as white staffers. The findings were part of an analysis of staffing inequities at 12 major US companies between 2019 and 2021, conducted by The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

"Walmart had some of the largest racial inequities of the surveyed companies when it came to employment outcomes," the report said.

In 2020, Walmart pledged to improve diversity within its workforce, and donated $100 million to create a center for racial equity.

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"The global health crisis has tested all of us in recent months, and the racial violence in the U.S. — in particular, the murder of George Floyd — is tragic, painful and unacceptable," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon wrote in an email to employees announcing the pledge in June 2020.

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