June 23rd 2023.
Customers and activists at a Walmart in Providence, Rhode Island were outraged when they saw a fundraising campaign featuring a Black employee in a cage. The employee was asking customers to donate "bail" money to the Hasbro Children's Miracle Network.
Angela Boateng, a customer at the store, was taken aback by the display. "I just did not understand what was happening, but I was mortified," she recalled. "And as I went closer to read what was on the cage, I don't know really what came over me. I was just deeply offended."
Angela Ankoma, leader of the Rhode Island Foundation Equity Leadership Initiative, posted the picture on Twitter, calling it "wild." Walmart spokesman Joe Pennington apologized and said the display was against company policy and should never have been used. "We are reinforcing this with our stores in the area, and this display has been removed from our Providence location," he said.
The branch of the NAACP in Providence was also displeased. Gerald Catala, president of the branch, said, "Images of Black people in cages represent a long, dark history in this country. Walmart should apologize and recognize that this is insulting and hurtful to Blacks, which is a large sector of their customer base at that particular Walmart."
Hasbro Children's Miracle Network, which the fundraiser was intended to benefit, said it was unaware of the fundraiser and has said it will work with the local store to identify other fundraising alternatives in the future.
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