Today’s parade of retailers yanking rebel flag merchandise comes after the racially-motivated massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston last week that left nine people dead.
“We believe it has become a contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism,” eBay spokeswoman Johanna Hoff said in a statement. “This decision is consistent with our long-standing policy that prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence and racial intolerance.”
Etsy’s statement is along the same lines:
“Today, we are removing confederate flag items from our marketplace,” the company told Mashable. “Etsy’s policies prohibit items or listings that promote, support or glorify hatred and these items fall squarely into that category.”
And finally, e-commerce giant Amazon confirmed to Time.com that it will be putting the kibosh on the flag as well.
Again, the Confederate battle flag is not to be confused with the official flag of the Confederacy (of which there were three official iterations). Sometimes called the rebel banner, the flag was the battle emblem for Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, notes PBS. It was rejected for use as the official flag of the rebels, but it was included in two later official flags as a smaller rectangle in a larger design.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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