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Google Earth view of Reed Company in Millinocket, Maine.
Google Earth
An insurance coverage company in Millinocket, Maine, is going through on-line backlash after a photograph circulated on Fb of an indication taped to the enterprise’s door on Monday saying, “Juneteenth ~it is no matter… We’re closed. Get pleasure from your fried rooster & collard greens.”
The picture of the signal on the Harry E Reed Insurance coverage Company, an affiliate of nationwide insurer Progressive, was initially shared by a Fb consumer by the identify Alura Stillwagon, with the caption “the racism in Millinocket is actual.” The unique submit has been shared greater than 100 instances.
“I am not indignant. Anger will get you nowhere. I am simply deeply, deeply disenchanted,” one other Fb consumer, Ken Anderson, commented on the submit. “On this enterprise, within the firms that permit this enterprise dealer their merchandise, and within the city of Millinocket, within the state of Maine, and the entire rattling nation. Deeply disenchanted. Why? As a result of I do know we are able to do higher. However we’re not attempting. And that is the half that cuts deepest.”
For a lot of companies, Monday marked the observance of Juneteenth, a federal vacation that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Military troopers arrived in Texas and introduced the top of slavery to greater than 250,000 black individuals who remained enslaved even after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, in keeping with the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
Because the picture of the signal started circulating on-line, folks have taken to on-line evaluate web site Yelp to sentence the insurance coverage company, prompting Yelp to disable customers’ potential to submit on the corporate’s web page.
“This enterprise not too long ago obtained elevated public consideration leading to an inflow of individuals posting their views to this web page, so we’ve briefly disabled the power to submit right here as we work to analyze the content material,” an alert on the Harry E Reed Insurance coverage Company’s Yelp web page reads. “Whereas racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any kind, all critiques on Yelp should mirror an precise first-hand client expertise (even when which means disabling the power for customers to specific factors of view we would agree with).”
The company obtained practically 90 — largely one-star — Yelp critiques, with many posters condemning the insurance coverage company as “racist.”
Jeff Sibel, a spokesperson for Progressive, mentioned in a press release, “We’re conscious and appalled by the signal not too long ago posted on the Harry E Reed Company and are terminating our relationship with the company.”
“At Progressive, Variety, Fairness and Inclusion (DEI) are elementary to our Core Values. We’re dedicated to creating an setting the place our folks really feel welcomed, valued and revered and anticipate that anybody representing Progressive to participate on this dedication. The signal is in direct violation of that dedication and would not align with our firm’s Core Values and Code of Conduct,” Sibel mentioned in a press release.
The chair of Millinocket’s City Council, Steve Golieb, launched a press release Tuesday denouncing the signal.
“It’s deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable for any particular person, enterprise or group to try to make mild of Juneteenth and what it represents for thousands and thousands of slaves and their dwelling descendants,” Golieb’s mentioned. “There is no such thing as a place within the City of Millinocket for such a blatant disregard of human decency.”
The insurance coverage company didn’t reply to requests for remark.
President Joe Biden and the state of Maine every signed payments into legislation in June 2021 recognizing Juneteenth as a federal and state vacation.
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