Asian Pacific American Community Outraged with Irresponsible and Derogatory Images By St. Louis Chinese American News Washington, DC, April 18, 2002 - The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national nonprofit Asian Pacific American (APA) civil rights and education group is outraged with t-shirts created by retailer Abercrombie and Fitch Company that display demeaning and degrading, stereotypical Asian images and word plays. Slanted eyes, rice paddy straw hats, and images of subservient workers, are simply a few of the printed designs on this series of six t-shirts. The statement, "Two Wongs can make it white," makes fun of Asian accents and questions the ability of Asians to pronounce "Rs". Also, the statement "eat in or wok out" instead of the correct spelling of "walk" is another reference to the stereotypical belief that all Asian people own fast food Chinese restaurants and have English literacy problems. Other statements and images on these T-shirts trivialize religion through phrases such as "Buddha Bash, Get Your Buddha on the Floor." One shirt portrays an Asian woman in a stereotypical subservient manner similar to the Cameron pin-up, which was historically painted on war planes during WWII. According to retailer Abercrombie and Fitch, Company, the new line of t-shirts was supposed to appeal to the emerging Asian Pacific American market with an estimated buying power of over $250 billion. The retailer targets youth in their teen to college years, and utilizes marketing strategies focused on contemporary styles that complement the "classic American lifestyle." "Unfortunately, in this case, the American lifestyle is neither reflected nor complemented. This new generation of consumers is not interested in wearing pieces of clothing that ridicule Asian Pacific Americans. Instead, angry complaints, phone calls, and e-mail campaigns spread like wildfire among APA students, community members and leaders nationwide, as well as other consumers of various backgrounds who were equally as offended," said George M. Ong, OCA National President. The OCA National Office was flooded with hundreds of inquiries requesting guidance how to mobilize around this issue. Asian Pacific Americans will not remain silent on this issue." "In our conversations with Abercrombie and Fitch representatives, we underscored the tremendous outrage of the Asian Pacific American community. We will continue to coordinate a national campaign with APA student leaders and community organizations to ensure that this kind of blatant and racist material is not tolerated," stated Christine Chen, OCA Executive Director. "These racist images were meant to be a parody, and the Asian Pacific American community takes offense that a corporation would use common stereotypes for cheap laughs and profit. Our community has made huge strides in the struggle for equality, but sadly, these derogatory t-shirts use of these images devalues our progress, and are evidence of the racial ignorance that still exists in this country. We still have so much further to go." After several discussions with Abercrombie and Fitch, OCA was assured by company spokesperson Mr. Hampton Carney, that they would pull this series of offensive t-shirts out of all 311 stores nationwide. In this instance, Abercrombie and Fitch seems to have recognized its mistake, but it must assure the Asian Pacific American community that it will change its corporate climate so that these types of blunders will not persist. As we head into May and prepare for the celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, OCA will be asking Abercrombie and Fitch for a follow-up meeting to discuss how the company might implement specific strategies such as diversity and cultural sensitivity training for the workforce, establishing a company policy regarding the use of racial stereotypes and the use of Asian Pacific American marketing firms who know and understand the community. By appropriately investing their resources, and taking steps to understand the Asian Pacific American community, corporations can prevent costly mistakes like this from occurring again. OCA continues to urge community members to visit the Abercrombie and Fitch stores to ensure that all the derogatory merchandise has been removed and use your voice to express your concerns to the local stores and to the Abercrombie and Fitch national headquarters at: 1-800-432-0888 (customer service) 1-614-283-6500 (corporate) or write to: Michael S. Jeffries, CEO Abercrombie & Fitch 6301 Fitch Path New Albany, OH 43054 abercrombie@abercrombie.com In addition, all concerned consumers should continue to express opinions and concerns to local media outlets by submitting editorials. You can also initiate dialogue or group discussions around this issue with your friends and family to make sure that our community has a historical perspective on why these images are derogatory and hurtful and have no place in our society.