Gardening Store Selling All Lives Matter Christmas Ornaments Gets Blasted On Facebook

A gardening supply store in Minnesota has received a great deal of backlash on social media for its decision to sell Christmas ornaments emblazoned with the words “All Lives Matter,” according to local reports Thursday.

An optimistic person could interpret the ornament’s slogan as a calling for all races to come together in a colorblind society. But many interpret it as a direct attack against the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was organized in part to accentuate the plight of black people who feel marginalized by U.S. institutions that disproportionately benefit the white majority.

News of the controversy quickly circulated across the internet Wednesday night when one shopper posted a picture of the maligned Christmas decoration to a private Facebook group. The Facebook group had originally been created to support Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy this past election.

After the photo was posted, the Facebook page for the gardening store in the town of Grove Heights was inundated with complaints to remove the ornament. Those offended gave the store negative Facebook reviews in an attempt to tarnish its public image.

“It’s sad and disturbing that a local company would take a swipe at the Black Lives Matter movement during the Christmas season,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds a civil rights activist who was once been the president of the NAACP in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “This time of year is very painful and challenging for family members and loved ones mourning those who have died as a result of police violence. Beyond that, it is clear that all lives will not matter until black lives matter in this country, a pinnacle that has not yet been reached.”

In accordance to the tremendous amount of political polarization currently in the U.S., Walmart announced Tuesday it would discontinue selling t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts that alternatively had the words “Bulletproof. Black Lives Matter” on them. An article published last week by the conservative Breitbart news website criticized Walmart for selling the pro Black Lives Matter merchandise after it had stopped selling products that displayed images of the Confederate flag in June 2015.

Walmart had also received condemnation from police departments across the country that thought the slogan insinuated violence against law enforcement officers, according to the Washington Post Tuesday. The national Fraternal Order of Police penned a letter to the retailer on Tuesday requesting it to stop selling the shirts.