..."“I apologize to anyone we offended. I meant it as a celebration of Martin Luther King and a way to honor him because he was a positive black leader,” she said.
Mock said she was caught off-guard by the public indignation the store’s sale provoked. She said that Global Village would never hold a Columbus Day sale, because she views the day as a glorification of imperialism. But she questioned why a Martin Luther King Jr. Day sale would stir controversy.
“Does anyone get upset about a Presidents Day sale or a Labor Day sale? Do they make a mockery of the presidency or the labor movement?” she asked.
“Sales happen all the time. I was not attempting to offend anyone,” Mock said.
But Ellsworth said the sale, whether well-intentioned or not, was “so tone deaf.”
He was particularly surprised to later see the store’s promotion of the sale on its own Facebook page: “Annual MLK Day BLACK SALE! "...
