‘You people’ invited to ‘White Friday’ at gun shop
With only six weeks left till Christmas, Pembroke, Ont., gun shop owner Lance Perkins decided to have a gun sale. On Thursday, he put up a sign outside his shop, Perkins Guns and Ammo, that read, “GUN DEALS. ALL YOU PEOPLE. COME ON IN. WHITE FRIDAY SALE.”
Two weeks later, Perkins says he’s “surprised” to find himself defending what he thought was a neutrally worded sign. “I’ve never had a Black Friday sale,” he said. “I still had one place left on my sign, and to be honest, after poor Trudeau screwed the word — black — with the blackface scandal, I just thought, ‘well there’s no way I can advertise a Black Friday sale,’” he said. “I didn’t want to be pulled into that nightmare.”
He opted for the word “white” as it reminded him of snow and the upcoming Christmas holidays. “It has nothing to do with anyone’s skin,” he emphasized repeatedly.
“It doesn’t say whites only. I don’t know why it’s been blown up to be such a large issue, it’s not a racial thing.”
However, the phrase has earned Perkins some backlash. “A couple of ladies phoned me, they didn’t understand the sign,” he said, adding that they calmed down once he had explained the intent of the message. “I’m not here to upset anybody,” he said. “I just want to take care of my clients.”
A phrase included in the sign is also reminiscent of one used by hockey icon Don Cherry in a Sportsnet segment that ultimately got him fired. However, Perkins says he doesn’t think Cherry did anything wrong and posted the slogan as a way of showing his support.
“He didn’t say it in any rude manner,” said Perkins.
“To me, the guy’s a great Canadian, he inspired a great sport, went to Afghanistan, built rinks, donated money.”
He added that he didn’t agree with the reaction to Cherry’s now infamous words, “you, people.”
“I don’t think that slogan was pointed at any one person or race. We have a motherhouse across the street, housing nothing but nice nuns. The only other time I’ve ever heard someone use that phrase was when one of the sisters called us and asked, ‘do you people have stamps?’” Perkins said.
He isn’t alone. “Most people that live here in Pembroke, they have no issues with the sign at all,” he said. He isn’t a hockey fan, but believes Cherry was treated unfairly. “I believe he used the phrase many, many times over the years and it wasn’t bad five or 10 years ago and it isn’t bad now,” he said. “It’s disgusting, what the sports people did to him.”
The sign has since been changed, he added, but not in response to any received complaints. Rather, it’s to keep the advertising fresh and relevant. “Now it reads ‘Merry Christmas’ on both sides and ‘I sell excalibur swords’ on one side,” he said. “It comes down to what letters I have left.”