Voices of support have rallied behind the owner of a southern grocery chain that sent out a mailer that said, “Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy.”
The owner said that he hoped to harness the hot political topic of the southern border wall to get across his message about his faith.
But whilst he was expecting it might spark some controversy Reggy McDaniel, who owns the Mac’s Fresh Market said he never expected to be called a racist.
The mailer, sent out earlier this month, included a “Mac’s Weekly Quote” section at the top which said, “Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy,” the mailer said. “Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.”
The hundreds of comments on the company’s Facebook page, however, suggest that more people will likely now be going to his stores, found in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, than will be boycotting them.
Past mailers visible on the company’s Facebook page show that the weekly mailers often feature a small messages near the top that refers to the owner’s faith as a Christian.
But the mention of the border wall prompted some backlash, with some people labeling the company as spreading “racism” and “fake religion.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself for claiming heaven has immigration policies. That’s not very Christian like behavior, I’m sure God is not happy with your disgusting racism and intolerance. I hope your store is boycotted by locals,” wrote one person.
“That’s my meaning of the whole thing is are people prepared to go to heaven or are they not,” said McDaniel. “I thought it was a perfect time because everybody is talking about the border, some people want it, some don’t want us to have one.”
“The only thing I was shocked about was that it’s racist. I have never in my life been accused of being a racist, I’m 70 years old I haven’t evolved into one.”
He said he respects people’s choices if they no longer shop at the store.
“I am so just bustin up proud that you did not apologize!” wrote another Facebook user. “No reason to... we have rights to our opinion and should not apologize - those who are offended need to put on a big pair of pants and grow up!!”
Another person commented, “Most of the negative words are from people and trolls that don’t even live in Louisiana! Much less here. As of the flood of people I saw at the Pineville store yesterday I’d say it was a success!”
Some locals told KALB he has a right to his opinion.
“It’s his opinion, people shouldn’t judge him by what he has to say, it’s freedom of speech,” said Christian Pace, Alexandria resident, according to KALB. “I like Mac’s, they are a great store.”
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