Are Hobby Lobby's artificial cotton stems racist? A Texas woman's post calling the decorative items "wrong" and imploring the craft store to remove them has gone viral.
Daniell Rider from Killeen, Texas, wrote on Facebook that she thought Hobby Lobby’s decorative faux cotton stems were racist and offensive, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The post, which has since been deleted, called the stalks of cotton "WRONG on SO many levels," the Chronicle said. "There is nothing decorative about raw cotton... a commodity which was gained at the expense of African-American slaves," she continued. "A little sensitivity goes a long way. PLEASE REMOVE THIS 'décor.'"
Rider's post generated more than 186,000 comments and 17,000 shares, but many said they thought she was being too sensitive about the cotton items.
“This is crazy,” one commenter said, according to the New York Post. “Cotton is a fact of life. People still pick it. That happened 150 years ago. Slaves also picked tobacco, harvested rice and many other things. ... Lowe’s sells chains and rope. You think they should get rid of that too?”
A few did point out Hobby Lobby’s conservative views as support for Rider’s position and called on people to boycott the chain, the Post reported. The fake flowers retailed from $6.99 to $15.99 on Hobby Lobby's website and were marked down from as much as $29.99.
In another cotton flap, Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry recently apologized in writing to black students there after they visited his home and were offended by cotton-flower centerpieces he had around the house, the Post noted.
“The content of the centerpieces was offensive, and I could have handled the situation with more sensitivity,” Lowry wrote, apologizing for the students’ “discomfort, anger or disappointment” and asking for their forgiveness, the Post reported.
Many on Twitter commented that cotton is everywhere in clothing and other items, and didn’t understand Rider’s reaction.
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