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On Tuesday, Target announced that it had fired an employee responsible for slipping laminated cards with a white supremacist message into packages of diapers.
According to BuzzFeed News, Target customers across the country were shocked to find laminated cards that had the message “It’s okay to be white” printed on them, along with links on the back of the cards to white supremacist websites.
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That slogan has been used by white supremacists and gained popularity among the alt-right after 4chan used it as part of a troll campaign, Newsweek noted. The idea of the campaign was to post the message in an attempt to provoke liberal media outlets into making accusations of racism, which the trolls thought would hurt the credibility of those outlets.
Since that time, even the KKK has adopted the slogan.
The cards containing the racist message were found by customers in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, DC, New Jersey, and Tennessee. It’s not immediately clear how many packages were affected by the racist messages.
Target’s response
After being made aware of the situation, Target issued an apology and launched an investigation into the matter.
“We sincerely apologize and share our guest’s concerns about the inappropriate message they found in their Target purchase,” a spokesperson for Target told Adweek.
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Then, on Tuesday, Target announced that it had fired an employee in connection to the incident, though the retail giant would not give further details or identify the employee who had been fired or whether that employee acted alone.
“After being made aware of the situation, we immediately launched a thorough investigation to address the concerns and put a stop to it,” Target spokesperson Joshua Thomas said. “We have identified the source, and given this is a violation of our policies and our commitment to inclusivity, terminated the team member.”