Wal-Mart's War on Christmas

It looks like VDARE.com's annual "War on Christmas" contest may have a contender already: that dominant institution in Red State America, Wal-Mart!

Go to www.WalMart.com and search on "Kwanzaa." You get:

77 items found for “kwanzaa”

Fair enough. Now, search Wal-Mart's site for "Christmas." You get:

We've brought you to our "Holiday " page based on your search.

I would presume this is just the work of some low level flunkies who didn't realize how obnoxious this is.

UPDATE: A reader writes on Friday, Nov. 11th:

Here’s what I got on a search for Christmas at Wal-Mart:

7967 items found for “christmas”

The world-changing might of www.iSteve.com demonstrated once again!

But there's more to the story.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights responded:

A woman who recently complained to Wal-Mart that the store was replacing “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays” received an e-mail response from Customer Service. It appears below in its exact form:

“Walmart is a world wide organization and must remain conscious of this. The majority of the world still has different practices other than ‘christmas’ which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism. The colors associated with ‘christmas’ red and white are actually a representation of of the aminita mascera mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world.”

To which Catholic League president Bill Donohue says: “This statement was signed by someone called Kirby. When I read it, I thought he might be drunk. But I was wrong. We sent Kirby’s response to Wal-Mart’s headquarters only to find that Dan Fogleman, Senior Manager, Public Relations, agrees. After acknowledging that he read Kirby’s response, Fogleman said, in part, the following”:

“As a retailer, we recognize some of our customers may be shopping for Chanukah or Kwanza gifts during this time of year and we certainly want these customers in our stores and to feel welcome, just as we do those buying for Christmas. As an employer, we recognize the significance of the Christmas holiday among our family of associates…and close our stores in observance, the only day during the year that we are closed.”

Wal-Mart sold $38 billion worth of stuff last December, so I don't think they really hate Christmas. Christmas has been berry berry good to them. Nonetheless, this fiasco shows a lot about our culture.

While you're in a Wal-Marty mood, you can download JibJab's new video "Oh Big Box Mart."

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer