The Department of Arkansas Heritage on Friday allowed Little Rock's Mosaic Templars Cultural Center to restock T-shirts promoting the Black Lives Matter movement after they were pulled early last week from the museum's gift shop.
The T-shirts were removed from the museum at the request of the Heritage Department, which cited uniformity across all museums and later possible controversy as reasons why the merchandise was pulled.
In a statement, Heritage Department Director Stacy Hurst said: "I regret that the removal of the T-shirts has sparked a discussion that has turned divisive, and I have asked staff at MTCC to return the T-shirts to the museum store."
By Friday afternoon, the T-shirts were available for purchase again at the Mosaic Templars museum store.
A Facebook post from Mosaic Templars dating back to Nov. 13 lists a black T-shirt featuring "Black Lives Matter" in capitalized white lettering as one of the museum's new items in its gift shop.
Black Lives Matter, a movement created in response to police-involved shootings that left unarmed black teenagers dead in parts of the U.S., has been used as a call to action for those seeking to find solutions for what they see as racial injustices.
Thursday evening, Heritage Department spokesman Melissa Whitfield said in a statement that the T-shirts were removed "because they are not promoting MTCC specifically or any of its programs or exhibits."
"All other DAH gift shops [at the] Old State House, Historic Arkansas Museum and Delta Cultural Center only sell wearable items with the specific name and museum logo or feature a specific exhibit or program," she said.
Whitfield added that the Black Lives Matter T-shirts were removed "in a review of what wearables are currently for sale and keeping that stock in line with their sister museums."
Hurst's statement Friday afternoon clarified that "some discussion did focus on the fact that the T-shirts could be seen as controversial."
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, who expressed his concern over the removal of the T-shirts via his blog Thursday, called the move a "deliberate and culturally destructive decision."
"Arkansas is the state of the Elaine Race Massacre, the Little Rock Central High Crisis and countless other vicious and outrageous conduct against black people," he said.
Griffen said by phone Friday that he is glad the Heritage Department reversed what he called "an attempt to suppress the Black Lives Matter message."
"I'm glad that they have realized the error of their ways, and now I wonder whether or not the decision makers will be disciplined for making a culturally incompetent decision that should have never been made in the first place," he said.