Paul TostoApril 11 update: Target says a worker has been fired.
We missed this last week, but the mystery continues:
Some Target customers have found a shocking surprise in their order of diapers – a card that reads “It’s Okay to be White” with numerous white supremacist groups named on the back. We’ve reached out to authorities about these incidents. https://t.co/Yic36ZwsaD
— ADL (@ADL_National) April 3, 2018
The Anti-Defamation League says it received complaints from Washington, D.C., Florida and Tennessee from Target customers who bought diapers at the store only to open them and find the slogan linked to white supremacist groups written on a laminated index card.
“On the opposite side of the card, there were references to numerous white supremacist websites and groups,” the ADL added.
AdWeek posted it’s reporting Monday, including an apology from Target and a confirmation that the Minneapolis-based retail giant is investigating:
We’re working to urgently address this matter and are actively investigating this with our security teams. While we’re not able to share specific details of the investigation, we encourage any guests who may have received this message to share their experience by calling Target Guest Relations at 1-800-591-3869.
Given the packaging, it’s likely the messages were slipped in at the manufacturing sites. The obvious question is whether it’s a prank or something more sinister. The second question would be, why diapers?
The website Know Your Meme has details on the origins of “It’s OK to be white.”
Last fall, handbills with the pernicious slogan surfaced at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. William Craft, the college’s president, wrote an essay that focused on unity and expertly disarmed the message, which likely was meant to be divisive, and made it inclusive.