-TWO WONGS DON’T MAKE IT RIGHT-

Abercrombie and Fitch clothing perpetuates racist clothing

 

“A&F is a place where friends can come together to have a good time.”

-Abercrombie and Fitch ‘Company History’

Unfortunately, these friends don’t seem to include Asians.  Abercrombie & Fitch has designed, marketed, and sold T-shirts that portray caricatures of Asian-Americans as servile, inferior, and foreign. These T-shirts demonstrate A&F’s blatant disrespect for Asian-Americans and trivialize the historical struggles of Asian-Americans. By ridiculing Asian-American culture, they foster an atmosphere of racial insensitivity and perpetuate stereotypes of Asians as servile beings capable of only menial work.

 

 

 

 

 

Rick Shaw’s Hoagies and Grinders – Good Meat, Quick Feet “Order By the Foot!”

 

-This depiction of smiling Asian men in straw hats and slanted eyes recalls the anti-Asian propaganda from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  Images like these helped develop the fear of “The Yellow Peril” which led to the Alien Land Laws, the Alien Exclusion Laws and ultimately the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. The social atmosphere created by these stereotypes contributed to racially motivated attacks, lynching, and general discrimination against Asian-Americans.

 

 

 

Wong Brothers’ Laundry Service – “Two Wongs Can Make It White”

 

-The T-shirts depict Asian-Americans working in laundry service and restaurant work, menial occupations they have historically been forced to take because of racism. “Laundry work was one of the few opportunities that were open to the Chinese… Thus the ‘Chinese laundry’ represented a retreat into self-employment from a narrowly restricted labor market” (Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, 201-202). The images of smiling characters imply acceptance and contentment with this denigrating work.

 

 

 

 

Buddha Bash – “Get Your Buddha on the Floor”

 

-Portraying a major religious icon in such a flippant manner is offensive. A&F would never say that a phrase such as “Jesus Bash - Get Your Jesus on the Floor” would be “cheeky, irreverent, and funny and everyone would love them.”  Yet that is exactly how A&F spokesman Hampton Carney excused the shirts.

 

“We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt.” -Hampton Carney

Even though A&F has withdrawn these T-shirts from its shelves, the fact that these T-shirts were designed, approved, and distributed reflects a fundamental flaw in A&F’s philosophy and marketing strategies.  This is not an isolated incident; A&F has a history of utilizing offensive gimmicks to boost its sales (link). 

 

We want to ensure that A&F designs and markets its clothing in a responsible way.  Therefore we would like to see the following changes enacted:

 

DEMANDS:

1)      A&F should issue a formal public apology that refers specifically to these t-shirts, explains why they were recalled, and addresses how these incidents will be prevented in the future. 

2)      A&F should post this apology in all A&F stores, on the main page of the A&F website, and in the next issue of the A&F quarterly catalogue.

3)      A&F should implement diversity training for all its employees.

4)      A&F should increase diversity and visibility of minorities in its quarterly catalogue and other promotional materials.

 

Contact Information:

 

Rally Organizer:

Christopher Tam, [email protected], 617-493-7018 (dorm), 617-290-7634 (cell)

 

Press Contacts:

Steve Choi, [email protected], 617-493-9104 (dorm)

Angela Lin, [email protected], 617-493-2750 (dorm)

Ethan Yeh, [email protected], 617-493-0442 (dorm)

 

Inter-college Contacts:

Lonnie Everson, [email protected], 617-256-6782 (cell)

Aram Yang, [email protected], 617-256-7304 (cell)