Note: we are republishing this story, which originally made the news in July 2020.
Kyle Sales, a teenage employee at a Lowe’s in Washington, revealed that he had been forced to remove his shirt after a customer complained that it was racist.
A supervisor verbally reprimanded Sales, and asked to remove the shirt, which read: “Black Panther Wakanda Forever,” and gave him the ultimatum to either buy a new one or go home and change.
“She goes, ‘A customer said your shirt is offensive and racist,’” Sales said. “This is from a movie. How is this racist?”
He was furious, but decided to cover up the superhero shirt with a sports jersey.
I was very angry. It just did not seem fair in light of all of the things that are happening in our in the world right now,” Sales said. “This isn’t racist. I shouldn’t be punished for a t-shirt from a movie.”
Sales later heard from a friend that the woman had shown up the next day to ask what punishment Sales had gotten for wearing the shirt.
“She came in throwing a fit saying, ‘What happened to that kid; what was his punishment?’” he said.
Sales had taken up the job at the hardware store a few months ago. He had recently graduated high school and was looking to save money before he begins college at Washington State University.
Photo Credit: KIRO 7 News
The incident reminded Sales of the discrimination he faced in high school and at some of his previous jobs. He stated that kids in school called him the N-word, and that a manager at a prior job used to refer to him as “colored boy.”
Sales’ mother, Kimberly, called the incident “pure, unadulterated discrimination,” adding that Lowe’s owes her son “more than an apology.”
When reached for comment, Lowe’s later told a local CBS affiliate that the hardware chain had apologized to Sales.
Photo Credit: KIRO 7 News
