Condemn Nazism Or You Can't Shop Here, Says Local Flower Business

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Aug 14, 2017 9:42PM

It feels strange, sad and surreal to be having a national political conversation about Nazism in 2017. But when the president says there's bigotry and violence on both sides of this fight, telling neo-Nazis, white nationalists and other racists that you don't want their business qualifies as taking a stand.

Tiki Brand, a Wisconsin company, came out with a statement decrying the use of its torches by an angry mob of white men who donned khakis and polos in lieu of white hoods during a violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Some of the white nationalists have begun losing their jobs after being ID'd.

A little closer to home in Chicago, a flower delivery service, has decided to take a stand in its online shop. Log on to their homepage and you'll be asked right off the bat just what "side" you come down in this "debate":

If you're unwilling to take sides, we don't want your business.

A post shared by Flowers for Dreams (@flowersfordreams) on Aug 14, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

If, like the president's initial statements, you can't bring yourself to clearly condemn these groups, Flower for Dreams announces that it's not interested in your business. Then it sends you on to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, so that you can learn about the horrors of hatred, ethnocentricity and fascism.

Steven Dyme, the CEO and founder of Flowers for Dreams, says that it's time for the business community to stand up against hate. He writes in Crain's, "The way I see it, our duty as business leaders is to set the tone. To be clear and up at the front, not hiding or cowering in the back."

Dyme praised Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, who resigned from Trump's American Manufacturing Council today. Frazier's resignation prompted a quick Twitter insult from the president—much quicker than a full rebuke of white supremacism.

Dyme says, "For us, standing idly by and pretending this hate and bigotry is isolated, or even temporary, was not an option. We've seen those mistakes made before—over and over again throughout history."

You may be pleased to know that on the hellscape known as Twitter there was not (yet) a single account doing anything but praising the stance, like this: