The shirts from the pro-Nazi punk band Skrewdriver have since been removed.
Walmart has removed a pair of Skrewdriver white T-shirts that were on sale on the company's website through third-party retailers.
There were at least two shirts available; one featured a raised white fist on a black background and the words “White Power” below Screw Driver's name. Another featured a picture of the Screw Driver album cover. Shoes and bracesan album released in 1987 and later turned into a compilation with another recording titled Voice of Britain (Both album titles appeared on the shirt.)
Based on screenshots of menus taken by Rolling Stone On Monday morning (September 23), two different third-party retailers appeared to be selling the shirts. The listings, which have now been deleted, also appear to have gained some traction on Reddit over the weekend. But it has not been widely reported.
A Walmart spokesman said, Rolling Stone“Like major online retailers, we operate an online marketplace that allows third-party sellers to offer merchandise to customers through our e-commerce platform. This item was listed by a third-party seller and was removed because it did not meet our standards and policies.”
Walmart’s rules for third-party retailers prohibit the sale of a variety of goods, from alcohol and precious metals to funeral products and e-cigarettes. The company also prohibits the sale of goods that might violate its “offensive content” policy, including items that “promote bigotry, hatred, humiliation or abuse of others based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, body image or similar characteristics.” Under that umbrella, the policy specifically refers to: “items, media or propaganda associated with Nazism, white supremacy or other hate groups that promote bias or bigotry.”
Skrewdriver first became active as Skinhead/Oi! in the 1970s and became an openly white nationalist and neo-Nazi group after bandleader Ian Stuart Donaldson revived the group in the 1980s (Donaldson died in 1993). Skrewdriver were part of the Rock Against Communism movement, which organised white power concerts across the UK. Their music is not available on most major commercial platforms.
