Abercrombie T-shirts mock Asian culture

By Ashley Ritchie

Racism is an issue that has definitely not yet been resolved in this country. However, I think it is fair to say that we have come a long way. Well, at least I thought this before Abercrombie and Fitch pulled their latest marketing stunt.

I am sure most have already heard that the popular teenage clothing store recently put out a line of clothing mocking the prevalence of Asian-Americans in the laundry industry and other industries. I suppose they thought it was funny that after coming to the United States to find the "American Dream", some of these individuals were forced to work as laundry cleaners to make a living. So, they decided to make a T-shirt about the jocularity of this situation, which I find utterly appalling. To make a joke of other's vocation or hardship is anything but cutting edge, which is what this company claims to be.

One of the shirts recently put out by the store featured two Asian men wearing cone-shaped hats and smiling. Above the cartoons the shirt read "Wong Brothers Laundry Service." Below the men was the slogan "Two Wongs can make it White." Is this really happening? Hw did this shirt even get off paper and onto an actual piece of clothing?

According to an article featured in The San Francisco Chronicle on April 19, Hampton Carney, a spokesman for Abercrombie and Fitch, said, "We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt. We are truly and deeply sorry we've offended people. ... We never single out any one group to poke fun at. We poke fun at everybody, from women to flight attendants to baggage handlers, to football coaches, to Irish Americans to snow skiers. There's really no group we haven't teased."

Well, that makes everything better. As long as they are making jokes about everyone than they have the right to do it. Let's not miss anyone. We must find something less than perfect about every single person possible. Just who do these people think they are? This elitist group of individuals thinks that they are so flawless that they can go ahead and make fun of anyone they please. I have to wonder how a company based on superficial ideals and practices has been so successful in the past.

I suppose that Abercrombie and Fitch lives by the slogan: "Any publicity is good publicity" and I am, in a sense, doing them a favor by writing this column. Since they only publicize with their catalogues, creating controversy such as this is a brilliant way to get their name out. Even if people believe what they are doing is wrong, they will probably go on the website or visit the store itself just to see if they can catch a glimpse of something done wrong. Either way, they are making the news and getting their name out.

I can't say that this situation completely surprises me. A company who chooses employees based on their looks has got to be up to no good. I can remember two times when I have been inside an Abercrombie and Fitch store and been offered a job, no interview or resume required. As long as I worked out enough, wore the right clothes, and maintained the "Abercrombie look", I was in. These owners obviously give no value to education, hard work and experience.

It seem as if Abercrombie and Fitch has targeted the Asian population because they thought that they could get away with it. I guarantee the thought of putting slaves on a shirt and writing about effective labor would never have crossed their minds. They knew that the country would be in such an uproar that they could possibly lose all of their prestige. Personally, I don't find this situation to be any different. Abercrombie is the bully in elementary school that takes the quiet kid's lunch money because he knows that he can.

Even though Abercrombie and Fitch took this line of shirts off of the shelf, in a sense, they have gotten exactly what they wanted. On eBay, people that have already purchased one of these shirts are selling them for $250. The publicity that the company is receiving from this is unreal.

I think this incident calls for resistance, not just from Asian-Americans, but from every other culture as well. Like Carney said, they make fun of everyone, so who knows who is next. This company is profiting on the belittlement of others and it has to stop.