Why Wal-Mart won’t sell Confederate flags but will sell Islamic State flags

Walmart is defending one of its employees at a store in Slidell, Louisiana after the bakery associate made a cake with the ISIS flag on it. Wal-Mart executives say it was an honest mistake because the baker did not know the flag or its meaning.

The cake debate erupted last week when Chuck Netzhammer said he placed an order for a cake with a Confederate flag design on it, with the caption: “Heritage not hate.”

He said the Slidell store rejected his design, most likely because following the mass shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina church, many companies including Wal-Mart started pulling Confederate-themed items from the shelves.

But the next day, when Netzhammer went to the same bakery to order an ISIS battle flag cake, the order was happily taken, he says, and fulfilled.

After the cake incident, Netzhammer posted a video, telling Wal-Mart “they have some explaining to do.”  While sitting on a motorcycle and holding up the Confederate battle flag, Netzhammer says in the video, “ISIS happens to be somebody we’re fighting against right now who are killing our men and boys overseas and are beheading Christians.”

That video has been viewed more than 500,000 times, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The frustration and anger clearly detected in his voice, Netzhammer goes on to say, “can you please explain why you are alienating Southern Americans with this trash that you allow to be sold in your store?”

But Wal-Mart executives told the Washington Post that there’s a simple explanation for all this. The store issued a statement saying, “It’s unfortunate that one customer sought to take advantage of an associate who did not know the flag or its meaning. This cake should not have been made and we apologize for the mistake.”