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opinion:
our view
Abercombie's
idea misguided
Retail clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch recently unveiled
a line of T-shirts that, although meant to be humorous, are
nothing more than veiled racist attacks against Asian-Americans.
One shirt shows an Asian man pulling a rickshaw cart and says
"Rick Shaw's Grinders. Order by the Foot. Good Meat.
Quick Feet." Another shirt shows two men at "Wong
Brothers Laundry Service" and carries the logo "Two
Wongs Can Make it White."
These stereotypes have been common for years but there is
no place for them on T-shirts. Abercrombie & Fitch target
the 18 to 22 year old market of mostly white middle class
students. But apparently, Abercrombie was trying to reach
out to an Asian demographic.
We feel that ridiculing Asian-Americans with dated stereotypes
was the wrong approach to target an audience.
Abercrombie has decided to pull the T-shirts from their stores
due to an out-pouring of criticism and protest. This was a
smart move by the company.
As one of the most popular clothing companies among college
students, Abercrombie & Fitch should be trying to use
their influence to promote anything other than racism.
Even if their actions were only for the sake of humor, the
company should still have thought. Maybe their poor decision
making was just emulating their target audience. We all make
poor decisions. But hopefully we all try not to make decisions
that will ridicule others.
No ticky, no washy Abercrombie & Fitch.
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