Bakery employees at a Georgia Walmart refused to make a police retirement cake last week after telling the officer's daughter that the "Thin Blue Line" cake design she requested was racist.
The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said that she went to a Walmart in McDonough last Thursday and asked for a cake with the American flag in black and white with a blue stripe added in, according to McClatchy News.
After making her request, one of the employees told her that "the design could be perceived as racist and nobody feels comfortable decorating the cake."
When she asked for just one blue line on a chocolate background, the employee said she didn’t "feel comfortable" with that design either.
"I asked her, 'Is there something wrong with cops?' " the woman told radio host Todd Starnes
Taylor Wilkes, a law enforcement officer and family friend, posted about the cake incident on Facebook Friday morning, criticizing the store for its employees' behavior.
"There is nothing racist about the symbolism behind the 'thin blue line,' yet people CHOOSE to make EVERYTHING about race," he wrote. "I'm so tired of it."
The police officer's daughter ultimately went to Kroger to order the cake.
Wilkes wrote on Saturday that after his post went viral, the Walmart manager met with the officer's daughter again to apologize offered a gift card, additional items for the party and to make the cake that the daughter had requested.
"I think he just did that because, thanks to you all, this got so much attention, and he didn't want it to go farther than it did," Wilkes wrote. "The way the meeting was described to me was that it was very scripted and not very sincere. So, although the mistake was 'made right,' I will still not be shopping at Walmart due to the 'quality' of employees they hire."
The daughter took the Walmart manager up on his offer to remake the cake. But said that the result "looked terrible" and not very professional.
A photo of the cake shows a thick blue line of frosting surrounded by the words "Blue Lives Matter" in white, off-center text.
A Walmart spokesperson said in a statement that the company regretted the incident, saying that "Our goal is to always take care of customers. But sometimes we misstep."
