DUers, Please Contact Amazon About their Confederate Gear

This morning I read an article on Mediaite about the surge in sales of confederate gear on Amazon now that Wal-Mart will no longer be selling it. So I decided to call Amazon to let them know how unhappy I was that they were selling it--it never entered my mind before now to look for it on there--and to ask them to stop selling it.

First I spoke to a woman, probably based in India, who had no idea what I was talking about. I said, "that's probably because you're not based in the United States. Its been a big deal here." She acknowledged that I was correct and connected me to someone in the US. That was very nice of her.

I shared my concerns with the guy I spoke to and mentioned that Wal-Mart had announced its decision and wanted to know whether Amazon would follow suit. He said he didn't know, but said something about free speech. I said, "this isn't a free speech issue. If it were, Wal-Mart couldn't make their decision."

"I meant free expression."

"People are free to express their racism, but that doesn't mean Amazon has to profit from it. Look, I hate Wal-Mart, but if Amazon keeps selling confederate merchandise and Wal-Mart doesn't, I'll stop shopping at Amazon and I'd be more inclined to shop Wal-Mart." (Lie: I'd never shop Wal-Mart, but rhetorically it works.)

"OK, well I'll let your concerns be known."

So please, express your concerns, too. Let Amazon know you're not happy they are selling confederate merchandise when the world's largest retailer, a horrible behemoth that seems to glory in mistreating workers, says they no longer will.