A man from Chicago, who goes by @omnimorrismc on TikTok, is claiming that Walmart briefly listed a T-shirt for sale on its website featuring a design he believes is offensive to Black people. In his video, the man shared a screenshot of the alleged design, which showed a raised Black fist symbol positioned below a flat, outstretched hand gesture, with the phrase “Paper Beats Rock” printed above it.
The raised fist, according to him, closely resembled imagery associated with Black power and civil rights symbolism. Meanwhile, the flat hand positioned above it appeared similar to a gesture that has been historically linked to extremist ideology. The man did not name the gesture in his video and avoided describing it in detail, noting that saying certain terms on the platform can result in content being taken down. He said that he initially did not believe the design was even real when it was sent to him, but after checking the Walmart website himself, he found the listing. However, by the time he attempted to screen record it to show others, the item appeared to have already been removed.
He Thinks That The Listing Was Intentional
The man believes this was not simply an oversight since the product description allegedly included the words “sarcastic” and “satire.” He argued that there would be no reason to label the T-shirt that way unless those behind the listing understood the symbolism and messaging that the imagery could convey. He also claimed the listing was only removed after people on social media began calling attention to it. “It took people speaking about it on social media before it was taken down… they thought that they could get away with this. This is crazy for Walmart. For any store,” he said.
Netizens Respond to the Chicago Man’s Video About the Controversial Walmart Shirt
The TikTok video received strong reactions from viewers, many of whom shared that they were also disturbed. One person commented, “I literally can’t believe my eyes.” A second said, “Totally crazy. Never going there again.” Someone else added, “As if I needed another reason to keep boycotting them.”
Some commenters accused Walmart of being careless or worse. One user wrote, “It’s disgusting. They ain’t even trying to hide anymore. No more money for Walmart from me. I’m canceling Walmart Plus too.” Another remarked, “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised,” A different netizen suggested that even though the listing was removed, “Certain people can probably still get these privately.”
