Walmart has stopped selling a mug after the text on it was deemed offensive to people with developmental disabilities.
Teacher Katie Kinder posted a photo of a white mug with black lettering that reads “got retard?” available for purchase on the Walmart website.
Unacceptable #spreadthewordtoendtheword how dare you @Walmart begin the outrage #oklaed pic.twitter.com/qfe3o86U0S
— Katie Kinder from OKC (@KatieKinder1) December 12, 2016
“There should be outrage over this horrifically, offensive mug being sold at Walmart,” Kinder wrote on Facebook.
“If Walmart wouldn’t sell a mug with a racial slur on it, then why in the world is this okay?”
The National Down Syndrome Society denounced the mug in a statement:
“Upon learning of the offensive language used in products sold by Walmart and Amazon, NDSS reached out to both retailers to discuss the offensive items being sold on their websites and asked that they immediately discontinue the sale of those products, which they both have done. NDSS strongly condemns the use of the ‘r word.’ As the leading human rights organization for all people with Down syndrome, we maintain a zero tolerance policy for this type of mockery and offense.”
Walmart responded to Kinder, saying the retailer was no longer going to sell the mug.
This item violated our policy and we quickly removed it. It’s unacceptable for a seller put it on our Marketplace. -Katz
— Walmart (@Walmart) December 12, 2016
“This item violated out policy and we quickly removed it. It’s unacceptable for a seller to put it on our Marketplace,” the company tweeted.
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