Why won't Asda withdraw its Ku Klux Klan-lookalike poncho from sale?

[Peikko 1,575]

In the runup to the World Cup there was no shortage of England and football paraphernalia in shops, but an item on sale at Asda – a white poncho with a pointed hood that resembles the cloaks of the racist Ku Klux Klan – is a source of ongoing controversy. And for good reason. The supermarket chain's repeated refusal to withdraw the product even after receiving complaints from campaigners and customers calling it offensive has prompted race equalities groups to launch a petition demanding that it be removed from sale.

The coalition of groups, which includes Operation Black Vote and Black Activists Rising Against the Cuts (Barac), have stepped up their action, gaining more than 500 signatures for the petition while also writing to the chief executive of Asda in the UK and bosses at the US parent company, Walmart.

The furore ignited after football fans took to social media last month posting pictures of themselves wearing the garment clearly showing the resemblance to KKK attire and asking why Asda was selling it. A flurry of news stories followed.

The product, which Asda continues to insist is "a wearable flag, nothing more, nothing less" and won't be recalled from sale, has been highlighted on Facebook, Twitter and even on Mumsnet with a thread entitled "Oh Come On Asda!". while last week the BBC comedy show Mock the Week ridiculed its absurd racist connotations. Campaigners, meanwhile, have been gathering evidence of the hooded cape being praised on far right websites.

Despite the outcry, the supermarket giant, which has more than 170,000 staff in the UK and promotes itself as an employer that champions diversity, has refused to acknowledge the problematic nature and symbolism of any product deemed to have a perceived allusion to the KKK and has spurned attempts by race equality activists to engage in a discussion about it.

Bearing in mind that Asda and other supermarkets ran into trouble for selling Halloween "mental patient" costumes that stigmatised people with mental health problems, for which they issued a relatively quick apology and withdrew the products, its reluctance to meet with campaigners about the poncho or answer any questions I put to them is all the more baffling.

Companies that claim they actively promote diversity should be held to account. No one is saying Asda intended to stock a product seen as racist. However, its management should sit down with those complaining and explain how Asda will prevent items like the poncho reaching their shelves in the future.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/17/asda-ku-klux-klan-wearable-flag-world-cup?CMP=fb_gu

Shock horror, I agree with ASDA on this (and I really don't like this store at all). This actually is political correctness gone a bit bonkers. It's a wearable flag, any resemblance to KKK attire is purely co-incidental. Go moan about something important, not this trivia.

I have no idea why anyone would want to wear an England flag mind you.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I have no idea why anyone would want to wear an England flag mind you.

What's wrong with the England flag?

[Peikko 1,575]

What's wrong with the England flag?

Nothing particularly I am just suggesting that when made into a poncho it might not be the first garment choice of the deserning.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Nothing particularly I am just suggesting that when made into a poncho it might not be the first garment choice of the deserning.

deserning?

[Peikko 1,575]

Person of taste and sophistication.

[Peikko 1,575]

Clearly, this is a product for the fan who has nothing. It just isn't the thing.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Nothing particularly I am just suggesting that when made into a poncho it might not be the first garment choice of the deserning.

An understatement, to be sure!

[mota bhai 2,675]

Person of taste and sophistication.

oh you mean discerning.

[JohnR! 5,495]

oh you mean discerning.

No fancy [sic] words allowed in the forums. Reported.

[Peikko 1,575]

oh you mean discerning.

Don't you start!

[mota bhai 2,675]

But you're English.

[Peikko 1,575]

Precisely. A descerning English person would simply not conceive of wearing such a garment.

[mota bhai 2,675]

discerning. if you can't spell, use the copy and paste feature, jesus effng christ.

[Peikko 1,575]

discerning. if you can't spell, use the copy and paste feature, jesus effng christ.

Spelling is not important to me. I don't care enough to get it right, particularly when using two fingers on a phone app that seemingly doesn't know how to spell discerning either. Suffer spelling hound, suffer!