Justice

These 5 Huge Companies Just Stopped Selling Confederate Merchandise

June 23rd 2015

The Confederate flag's prevalence and availability in mainstream culture is waning. Along with top lawmakers from multiple states, multiple companies are taking steps to stop peddling the Stars and Bars.

As of Tuesday afternoon, these are the five companies that have pledged to stop selling Confederate flags and related merchandise.

1. Walmart

The nation's biggest retailer announced Monday that they would no longer sell flags or Confederate themed attire and accouterments like T-shirts, belt-buckles, or knick-knacks like knives. The announcement came in response to an inquiry by CNN about their sales of themed apparel and goods.

"We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer," Walmart spokesperson Brian Nick told CNN.

2. Amazon

Amazon on Tuesday became the latest company to add the Confederate flag to its list of banned items, including swastika memorabilia, drugs, and human body parts. The company has explicit laws banning the sale of offensive products that promote hate or violence, and a representative told CNN Money that Amazon would review customer complaints that report third-party resellers, who are sometimes able to sell prohibited items. The company will "work hard on this issue every day because we know that our customers trust that they are buying safe and legal products when they shop on Amazon.com[.]"

3. eBay

"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," an eBay representative told CNN Tuesday. The company said it constantly runs evaluations on the 800 million products on its site, but it is unclear how far the bans will go for, say, historical artifacts, for which eBay is a popular marketplace.

"This decision is consistent with our long-standing policy that prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, and racial intolerance," the company said.

4. Etsy

The announcement Tuesday that the online crafts site Etsy is banning sales of Confederate flag merchandise came in response to other major online retailers making similar promises in the wake of a racially motivated mass shooting in last week in Charleston, South Carolina. The company said in a statement that it is "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."

But the company also warned that the nature of their third-party based selling platform, "it is possible that a prohibited item may appear for sale on the site before our enforcement teams have a chance to remove it."

5. Sears Holdings Corporation

Sears Holdings, which operates Sears and Kmart stores, announced that it would remove Confederate merchandise from its online stores, according to CNN. The company said that it does not sell flags or Confederate apparel in its stores, but some third-party sellers peddled products on their website.

Share your opinion

Would you boycott a company that sold Confederate flag merchandise?

No 35%Yes 65%