Racist or just bad marketing?

[Gonzo]

Are we unable to take a joke or has A&F gone too far? Caricatures, like stereotypes are based in truth. White men can't jump. Blacks like fried chicken. Women are hormonally deranged. This doesn't mean every single one, but on average, this can be found to be relatively true, and not exclusive to the particular. Have we lost our sense of humor? Is "politically correct" the way to go?

Answering Protests, Retailer to Pull Line of T-Shirts That Mock Asians
By JOHN M. GLIONNA and ABIGAIL GOLDMAN
SAN FRANCISCO -- Amid mounting protests, college clothier Abercrombie & Fitch on Thursday said it will pull a line of T-shirts from stores nationwide after complaints that they depict racist caricatures of Asian Americans.

The $25 T-shirts show cartoonish Asian characters with slanted eyes and conical hats who serve as pitchmen for companies such as restaurants, dry cleaners and bowling alleys.

One portrays a man pulling a rickshaw with the words "Rick Shaw's Hoagies and Grinders. Order by the foot. Good meat. Quick feet." Another shows two Asian men at "Wong Brothers Laundry Service" and carries the logo "Two Wongs Can Make it White." A&F, which markets shorts, T-shirts and other casual apparel to youths between the ages of 18 and 22, said it made the decision after receiving "hundreds and hundreds" of complaints about the T-shirts.

The items have been on the shelves for nearly two weeks, but the firestorm hit within the past couple of days, mostly a result of rapid-fire e-mails delivered to dozens of people at once.

 

[Q]

I dunno, kinda sounds like it might be pushing the envelpoe to me.

 

[UltraLiberty]

A&F has been the way they are now ever since I've known about them, but when did they become the way they are now? They used to be quite different. I remember this one episode of M*A*S*H, the guys ordered a metal bathtub or something similar from them, and my mother tells me that's what the place used to be like. Certainly not trendy clothes aimed at preppy late-teens who think expensive clothes=cool.

 

[fury]

Have we lost our sense of humor?

In a word, yes. Everything we say must be carefully worded so as to not contain any of the following: Offensive slang, racial slurs, sexually suggestive terms, a joke, a jestful insult, or anything else, otherwise we get our asses handed to us on a silver platter by The People for the Equal Rights and Privileges of [insert adjective here] People.



Every minority has 20 groups of people that bitch about that minority being treated as inferior when, really, it's the other way around. We (meaning the largest ethnical group in the U.S., caucasian-colored people) have to bow down to every minority. Where's the collective of people who want equal rights for majorities?

 

[B4TMANN]

A&F as a whole, is simply a terrible company that promotes nudity among young adults. They have no moral standards, and ZERO ethics. I wouldn't buy $hit from those idiots ....EVER!

Just a bunch of Money hungry immoral goofholes.......who might as well promote porn......if you've ever seen a catalog of theirs you'd know what i mean... What a bunch of bungs.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Every minority has 20 groups of people that bitch about that minority being treated as inferior when, really, it's the other way around. We (meaning the largest ethnical group in the U.S., caucasian-colored people) have to bow down to every minority. Where's the collective of people who want equal rights for majorities?

To be blunt, fury, the caucasian race DOES have equal rights. Always HAVE had equal rights as well. Until you've been treated like a member of another race, don't even think that caucasians have it harder. Try being negro, latino, or asian for a day. Don't hang out with your friends, and don't let anybody know that you're caucasian. How about reading that book, 'Black Like Me'. It's a bit out-of-date, but some of it is still true. You can't even begin to imagine what it's like. You say that caucasians have to bow down to other 'minority' races, but, if everything was level to begin with, then you wouldn't have to.

 

[LiViNtOoLiVe]

well sed gato! fury i think ur being a bit to odefensive of causasians, the reason we minorites (im indian) have to fite so much is because of the unequal rights that we get. and the only reason you end up bowing is that when it comes down to it we do have unequal rights and thas a fact, and caucasians dont want that to get out of hand with another civil rights act so they admit thier fault until theres another uprise when they bow again for their own safety. i hope i dint offend ne1 nothin offensive was intended. Minorites-------><------------Majorites

 

[greenfreak]

I could be wrong but I don't think that fury was trying to say that caucasians have it harder but instead that we have to be very careful and police all our words and actions for fear of offending someone, anyone. These days with regulations on the number of minorities that an employer has to hire and such, it feels like, in a a way, caucasians are at the mercy of minorities for the sake of equality. Now, I'm not saying anything is wrong with that, because so many employers would hesitate to hire someone who is just as qualified (or more qualified) than someone else based on the color of their skin. But many times I've heard my friends complain that they've been on the list for FDNY for years and they keep getting passed over, when people who are less qualified and to worse on their tests are hired because they belong to a minority.

These regulations were set in the first place because minorities were not getting the same opportunities as the majority. If it hadn't been a problem, it wouldn't have been required. Call it 'evening the score' but at some point, hopefully, the score will become more even. Hopefully. Can't we just all get along?

 

[flavio]

company that promotes nudity among young adults

That's bad ?!?!?

 

[fury]

I didn't mean caucasians had it harder than minorities. I meant exactly what greenfreak thought I meant. If we do something that offends anybody, ANYBODY, we had better duck, because we're going to be tomatoed to death by the equal rights activists who think that equal rights for minorities means making majorities the bitches of minorities. They can't seem to get the idea of revenge out of their head. Yeah, whites treated minorities like shit in the past. Past being the key word. We've already apologized and many times even compensated monetarily, but the people standing up for the minorities don't seem to want to accept that, and not that it's a bad thing to stand up for a people who have in the past been treated badly, but they keep wanting to screw up the very concept that the whole world has been trying to get their act together on, that everyone is equal, and no one color or ethnicity deserves any different treatment than the other. If something offends caucasions, we just don't look at it (well, most of us anyway). If something offends a minority, a whole crapload of people start calling the media and going on strikes and all this stupid crap, and it's really just unnecessary.

 

[LiViNtOoLiVe]

fury now i kno what u mean and i agree. i took it the wrong way and i always thinmk about how (no offense) but balck ppl have soooo many jobs and they are so well respected now that they are probally the majority of ppl on TV.(ok fury part over) when was the last time u saw some1 on tv that was indian without the indian accent or wasnt a taxi driver? and dont say that there isnt a large indian community because there is. fury i totally agree wit u on the fact that htat does happend. i love these forums u can talk bout nethin so openly, no one throwin tomatoes on u (lol fury) its just so open and there are always pl that respond rite away! thas my input!

 

[Gato_Solo]

Hate to burst your bubble, LiViN, but black people are not on TV all that much...unless they happen to be some type of criminal. As for the misunderstanding, point taken. HOWEVER, I, too, have to watch what I say and do. My job requires me to work with all races, and, because of that, I must think very carefully before I speak.

BTW, LiViN and fury...

 

[PostCode]

I am soooo tired of all this political correct BS! When I was in the service, some of my best firends were blacks and hispanics. I didn't call them that either. We regularly called each other slander. It wasen't to demean each other or spoken out of hate. It was a way for us to work with each other. We all did it out of fun. Hell, if you didn't fit in unless you came across the same way. Those same guys were the same guys that I bent over backwards for and got the same from them. The same guys I went to the bars and clubs with and got shit faced with.

I think our society is simply so hung up on offending one another that the minorities now expect to be treated in this social manner of respect that involves unwritten codes of conduct. Horse shit.

 

[fury]

I must think very carefully before I speak.

That's exactly my point. Anything said is 110% likely to be taken the wrong way by some people nowadays, even if it is made clear that what was said was said in jest.

 

[Gato_Solo]

As far as I know, PC is just a fad that will pass once most people get over themselves, and start treating others as they, themselves, would like to be treated.