Cotton centerpieces appear to be all the rage lately. According to one Texas woman, however, Hobby Lobby selling decorative cotton stalks is “WRONG on SO many levels” and insensitive to the black community.
In a viral Facebook post, Daniell Rider asked the Hobby Lobby location in Killeen to remove its “decor” that “was gained at the expense of African-American slaves.”
The Facebook post, which has been shared over 24,000 times thus far, has received mostly negative reactions.
Rider spoke to KCEN for two hours about her concerns and the backlash.
“It doesn’t represent a decoration to me. It represents a time of oppression for my people,” she explained.
Asked about a comment by a fellow African-American woman who disagreed with her assessment of the cotton, Rider said, “I wasn’t trying to be divisive. If I was trying to be divisive, I would’ve said something to the effect of talking about the world, talking about race relations, talking about a individual. I am a consumer talking to a retailer, and all I said was I found something offensive.”
One shopper at the Killeen store, when asked about her feelings about the post, said she bought cotton for a floral arrangement. “I actually bought cotton today to put into a floral arrangement. There’s just so much going in the world that the race war, we really need to put that aside.”
Another shopper said, “To me, there is symbolism with cotton and so you can take it to a slight offense, you know, when you think about things that people have gone through.”
Rider claims that she has even received death threats as a result of merely expressing her opinion on cotton.
“If you really want the country to heal, then you need to be mindful of how you speak. Words have power,” she said. “It’s no longer about the raw cotton. The cotton is off the shelf and racism remains there.”
Rider also called for other stores to get rid of their raw cotton displays.
While Rider has complained about the cotton centerpieces in Hobby Lobby, students at Lipscomb University also recently complained about decorative cotton stalks in their university presidents’ home. The president, Randy Lowry, has since apologized for the “offensive” cotton on display during a meeting with black students. It is unclear if the cotton is the same as the cotton on sale at Hobby Lobby.
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