Walmart is removing its ice cream which was specially dedicated to commemorate Juneteenth after receiving backlash. Social media users slammed the retail company for selling and advertising products with the day that signifies the ending of slavery in America.
“Juneteenth holiday marks a celebration of freedom and independence,” the company said in a statement to FOX Television Stations. “However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”
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Twitter user and content creator KevOnStage, also known as Kevin Fredericks, tweeted Sunday calling out Walmart for its Great Value Celebration Edition Juneteenth ice cream.
“This is what happens when you commercialize federal holidays,” KevOnStage says.
This year, Walmart advertised new Juneteenth merchandise, which also included party decorations.
Twitter called out the themed products for using Juneteenth as a marketing scheme.
“Capitalism is a retail conglomerate, owned by a white billionaire family, marketing an ice cream to celebrate a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in a country that was literally built on the backs [of] slaves. See: Walmart’s Juneteenth ice cream,” one Twitter user wrote.
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Another user tweeted: “I knew when they’d declare Juneteenth as a holiday it was just a bone being thrown at Black ppl in typical gaslighting fashion. Walmart’s new action to trademark a Black American moment of historical significance is the epitome of white supremacy in action.”
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. It was about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Southern states.
It is a day that marks the end of slavery in the US and, was only made a federal holiday in 2021.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed a bill creating Juneteenth National Independence Day.