Business Insider reported that Amazon saw “skyrocketing” sales of Confederate flags after other retailers decided to stop selling them, spiking an amazing 3,000% in the last 24 hours. Despite the skyrocketing sales, Amazon has joined other major retailers in banning sales of the controversial symbol.
Wal-Mart, Sears and eBay have all announced they will not sell Confederate flags.
The bans have come in the wake of the horrific incident last week at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC in which nine people were shot dead by a lone gunman. Dylann Roof reportedly “harbored racist sentiments and wanted to incite a race war,” according to Business Insider. Among other things, this was based on pictures discovered after the attack, including Roof posing in front of his car and its Confederate flag license plate, and statements he made to friends.
The shooting has sparked a national debate on whether it is appropriate to display the Confederate flag, the most recognizable symbol of the slave-holding South during the Civil War.
“We have decided to prohibit Confederate flags, and many items containing this image, because we believe it has become a contemporary symbol of divisiveness and racism,” an eBay spokesperson said in a statement to TIME.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag to be taken down from the State Capitol Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called for his state to phase out license plates depicting the flag, according to TIME.