Letter from Macy's CEO, Jeff Gennette, and my Response

I received today an insulting political message from Macy's CEO. Below is my answer to his form letter of June 7, 2020.

Dear valued customers,

Macy’s is proudly “America’s department store.” Beyond the products we offer, the parade and the fireworks celebration, our company will ultimately be known for the values we exhibit. That starts with fostering an inclusive, welcoming community – one that believes, and acts on a principle that everyone is created equal and deserves our respect.

The death of George Floyd is sadly just one more incident of racial injustice, including those against Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, along with countless others. The grief, frustration and anger that we have seen is understandable. And as a company, we are committed to do our part to end systemic racism.

This week we hosted a virtual Town Hall attended by over 5,000 of our colleagues across the country. Several opened up with remarkable vulnerability and honesty about their experience of being Black in this country, in our company, and in the streets. About the difficulty of living a life on guard all the time, of teaching a young child to do the same. Of constantly explaining why Black lives matter.

As our customer you are part of the Macy’s family, so we are sharing some of our learnings from this Town Hall with you here.

Thanks for listening. We will continue to keep listening, too – every day.

Sincerely,

Jeff Gennette

Chairman and CEO of Macy’s, Inc.

_______________________________________________________________________

Jeff Gennette,

As a Macy's shopper, I am shocked by your overt political message. This letter is highly offensive to me. For you to call me indirectly a racist, is beyond the pale. You are in business to sell clothes not to engage in politics and to try to be my conscience. I have a mother and a conscience already, thank you. You are pandering to a demographic that has looted and destroyed your stores and you should be ashamed of doing so.

It is sad that George, a black man. was killed by police but this issue is not about racism, it is about police brutality. Black and white men have been killed by police brutality but it does not make us or our country racist just because you say so. For you to present it any other way, it is absolutely disingenuous. I do not need your town hall to teach me how to be a good human being, a good American.

"Systemic racism," a new liberal construct invented by the leftist academia to excuse the riots and looting, only exists in the warped minds of those with an agenda to fundamentally transform America into the socialist paradise of globalism. I happen to know first-hand that America is the most tolerant and least racist country in the world.

Since you are now a political organization, I will start buying my linen, clothes, jewelry, and everything else you sell,  from a small business that deserves my dollars more than you do.

Sincerely,

Ileana Johnson