Always Racist. Always

Oh, Walmart.

Wal-Mart stirred outrage yesterday when its Web site suggested that
shoppers who wanted to buy a "Planet of the Apes" DVD would be interested in
biopics of famous black Americans like Martin Luther King Jr.
The giant
retailer blamed a computer glitch for the "offensive" recommendations - and said
it was overhauling its online operations until a fix could be made.
"We are
heartsick that this happened and are currently doing everything possible to
correct the problem," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said. "We are deeply
sorry that this happened."
When visitors to Walmart.com plug in the name of
a movie they want, the site also pulls up the name of several other "similar
items" they might like.
For instance, a shopper who enters "Million Dollar
Baby" is offered other 2004 hits like "The Aviator" and "Ray."
But in the
case of "Planet of the Apes," consumers who clicked on the DVD of the original
TV series - a cult classic in which the Earth is ruled by gorillas - were routed
to four movies about King, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer Jack Johnson and
singer Tina Turner.
New Yorkers were disturbed.
"They are making a
statement relating apes to black movies?" wondered Denise Brown, 36, of East New
York, Brooklyn. "'Planet of the Apes' was a science fiction movie. What does
Martin Luther King have to do with that?"
"It's outrageous. I've never heard
of anything like that," the Rev. Al Sharpton said when he was told of the
pairings.
"They need to straighten it out, and if they do not clarify what
happened, we need to take some action."

Update: here's more from the Washington Post.