Retail giant Walmart found itself embroiled in controversy after a purportedly offensive t-shirt sparked outrage in the still-grieving Texas community of Uvalde.
The shirt in question — adorned with a blue and white outline of Texas and the words “Where the heck is Uvalde, Texas?” — struck a raw nerve for Brett Cross, whose 10-year-old son, Uziyah, was killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting that claimed 21 innocent lives in May 2022.
Cross took to social media to condemn the sale of the garment in Uvalde, prompting a swift apology from the company. The grieving father told USA Today that was profoundly dismayed over the insensitivity displayed by the shirt’s design.
“How do you make a shirt saying where the heck is Uvalde when less than two years ago, the third largest school massacre happened?” Cross said, highlighting the impact such tragedies had on affected families.
For Cross, the issue transcends Walmart and speaks to a deeper societal problem of desensitization toward the prevalence of school shootings. He said that corporate entities should prioritize empathy over profit, urging for greater awareness and sensitivity with regard to the products they choose to promote.
“You mean to tell me that nobody in Walmart thought, you know what, maybe we shouldn’t put this out because 21 people were slaughtered … Nobody thought it was a bad idea? No, because as long as it makes money, that’s all these corporations care about,” Cross claimed.
Walmart responded to the outcry by swiftly removing the shirts from their shelves and issuing an apology.
The company expressed regret over any distress caused by the item and reiterated its commitment to serving local communities in a statement provided to USA Today.
“Our stores have always been central to the communities they serve, and our store managers have the ability to purchase merchandise that is locally relevant,” Walmart said. “Though well intended, we apologize for any distress this item has caused. The store immediately removed the item once we learned that it was perceived negatively by some customers.”
Still, Cross viewed Walmart’s apology as inadequate. He called for genuine efforts towards meaningful change, both in corporate practices and societal attitudes towards gun violence, per USA Today.
“We have to do better as a species,” he said.
