When Dumb Tshirt Slogans Go Wrong
 

PSA:
Stop putting dumb stuff on your shirts, people. Keep some things in your mind. :rolleyes: That goes for all dumb slogans. It's not cute and it's not profound. You aren't making a "statement" so much as you're looking like an attention starved moron.
/end PSA

http://www.livesteez.com/media/image...1216300491.jpg

A 25-year-old New York City graduate student is threatening to sue a T-Shirt designer after being assaulted for wearing one of his designs.

The woman bought a $69 shirt from Apollo Braun's Manhattan boutique that bore the words, "Obama is my slave." When she wore the shirt on Tuesday, four teenage girls accosted her - shoving her, pulling out her earphones, and spitting in her face, according to the New York edition of Metro News.

Is she serious?

She's going to sue the t-shirt designer?!! Doesn't anyone take responsibility for their own actions anymore? Yeesh, what a moron.

In a word: NO.

Both the t-shirt designer AND the person who bought it were incredibly stupid and/or naive. I have no sympathy for either of them, but they should be put in the same playpen.

Those girls didn't have the right to assault her. Free speech often has consequences but the consequences aren't always right.

If she attempted legal actions against her assaulters, I wonder if she will be accused of precipitating (or whatever) her assault. Like yelling FIRE in a crowded theater. (?????)

The T-Shirt designer must not be stupid or naive if he/her can actually get people to buy it and for SIXTY NINE dollars... than that is not naive, naive is buying it!!!

The dumb bitch should sue the people that attacked her, not the person that tricked her into paying $70 for a T SHIRT. How did she get into grad school without a brain?

She didn't get tricked...heh.

Lesson 1# Don't be someone's walking advertisement...


(especially when you don't know what you're selling!)

Inflammatory speech (especially passive, like this) is generally protected. So yeah - for some reason I can't stop laughing at this entire situation. You bought a shirt that says "OBAMA IS MY SLAVE" and wore it around NYC, then got your ass kicked. Every part of that is funny as hell to me.

ditto

The t-shirt designer is basically saying that it's a blanket statement about whites because whites subconsciously see Obama as a slave. I understand what he's trying to say but the execution of it was unbelievably stupid.

You understand that?! I don't. And I don't buy it either. I certainly don't see a slave when I look at Obama and I refuse to believe that most people do.

The designer, Apollo Braun, has said some incredibly stupid things. One of his other t-shirts reads, "Obama = Hitler." He hates Obama because he thinks Obama is a Muslim. The guy's a moron.

His "fashions" suck too. http://www.apollobraun.com

Maybe he is one of the small minded people that drooled over that New Yorker cover....

You don't understand why he's saying it? You seem to have some understanding of where it's coming from:

No, I think you misunderstood me and perhaps I misunderstood you.

What I was referring to in the "not understanding" is why he has the idea that most whites in America see Obama and think "slave". The guy's Israeli. I don't think he understands the American mindset, as diverse as it may be.

wait...you lost me...what does the guy being israeli have to do with him not liking Obama? Or...thinking that most whites don't like Obama?

That thinking still didn't stop him from making 2 offensive shirts that he sells for $69 bucks...with one sucker who got her ass whupped for it....

That is just as bad as the idiot in Georgia selling the Curious George Obama shirts and thinking it wasn't offensive...sometimes you just can't excuse ignorance..especially when someone is making money from it.

He was quoted as saying that though.

Okay, wait. I'll clarify.

The designer was quoted as saying that he believes that most Americans look at Obama and think "slave".

I disagree that most Americans think "slave" when looking at Obama. This isn't because I don't think there are racist people in America. (That would be off-the-charts naive.) It's because none of us were alive when slavery in this country existed. Thus, even though we know it existed, it isn't part of our personal frame of reference.

I just don't think that even your average racist in this country thinks "slave" when they look at African Americans. I believe they think other things.

The designer's being Israeli isn't the point here. It's the fact that he is not an American. I don't think he understands what we think.

ETA: I'm NOT excusing his stupid beliefs because he's a foreigner. I'm just saying he doesn't understand Americans. Beyond that, I think he's a turd.

I disagree.

I apologize for giving this tshirt "designer" free advertising.

Surely GCers are too smart to spend $69 for ANY t-shirt. (Not to mention an inflammatory one):rolleyes:

I wouldn't know what GCers and lurkers would and wouldn't do.

But I was moreso talking about "any publicity is good publicity." The designer knows his shirts are controversial and the effect he's looking for is to get people to TALK and REACT.

IIRC, he specified "WASPs" who, technically are the physical majority, but probably not the majority with respect to what you're saying.

ETA: Actually, when I think about it, it's probably not the Ps that are in the majority, but the RCs.

Could you explain why? I'm not trying to be controversial nor patronizing. I'd just really like to know what your take on this is.


preciousjeni, I think we're actually all opposed to this guy and his t-shirts but somehow we're getting our wires crosses in the discussion. I'm probably not getting my point across effectively...as usual.

I think you might be giving him more credit than he deserves. I think he's just a guy filled with hatred trying to make a buck.

ok..let's start with this...

I think he's just a guy filled with hatred trying to make a buck = I think he's just a guy trying to make a buck.

Refer back to what I said about the man in Ga with the Curious George Obama shirts....

Just another person wanting five seconds of attention whoredom...tis all.



The 'slave' mentality would take waaaaaay too long to explain but suffice to say, you still have enough people that still look at minorities as 2nd class citizen...again...think that some of this plays right into the whole New Yorker article that we discussed elsewhere.

I agree. But I think you're disagreeing with me while I'm agreeing with you. Now I'm confused. :confused:


Absolutely. I realize that many people think of minorities as 2nd class citizens. But, I still don't think the actual word "Slave" comes to mind. That was my main point.

The term is certainly an exaggeration, but it's not entirely inaccurate in a broader sense. People are still enslaved in the United States, but more indirectly and covertly than before.

I'd also be hesitant to say that whites don't tie blacks to slavery today, even if it subconscious. They may view the continued effects of slavery differently, but I'd venture to say that the thought is in there somewhere. Slavery is so humiliating to some whites that they don't want to talk about it and they shy away from discussions of race.

Note ":rolleyes:" in my previous response. And "surely".

My name's not Shirley. Tee hee.

very on point and that is why right now, I am not ready to get on that line of debate....

Okay. Fair enough. I can understand not wanting to get into that debate right now.

I'd just like to clarify that I wasn't disregarding the fact that the effects of slavery still exist and that minorities continue to be treated like second class citizens. The broader sense of the word "slave" is certainly still valid.

Exactly! That's why I do not believe that the word "slave" easily comes to mind. I'm not talking about obvious racists like the Klan here. I'm talking about the far more insidious racism that pervaids our society. It's a part of average, everyday people who wouldn't necessarily believe that they are racist at all. But they harbor negative beliefs and act on them regardless. They don't want to hire minorities. They don't want to rent to minorities.

Yet, this type of person is very likely to be humiliated by the slavery of our past. That's exactly why I don't believe that the word "slave" comes to mind for them. Why would someone who doesn't believe they're part of the problem want to remind themselves of our shameful past? They don't. And, unfortunately, I think this includes a great majority of white Americans today.

I disagree with your comments above.

I can say plenty more. But, dude isn't a citizen so WTF should I care about what he does if he cannot vote? Boo to the dumb fucktarded citizens that spend $70 for bootleg ironed on lettered shirt.

MONET!!!!


such LANGUAGE!!!!!


lol

[QUOTE=AKA_Monet;1683429]I disagree with your comments above.

I can say plenty more. But, dude isn't a citizen so WTF should I care about what he does if he cannot vote? Boo to the dumb fucktarded citizens that spend $70 for bootleg ironed on lettered shirt.[/QUOTE]

:D 'nuff said soror!

he should get his ass kicked for calling himself a designer.














kinneygardin lookin...bamma ass tight shirt!!

He made $70/ shirt. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous.

That just goes to show you that there some dumb fucktards with money... Like stealing candy from a baby... I could use that crazy money myself and sell them a t-shirt that I wiped my butt with so that they can smell my chit...

I have my moments... Where my meds...http://www.pledgepark.com/images/smilies/lol.gif

I'm sure some dumb skank would think it was "art" and would buy it with daddy/ hubby's credit card.

Grossssssssssssssssssssssss! LOLOL!

I hope I'm not crashing. When I saw the shirt and the wearer, it just said to me, 'Please look at me, I need attention'.