Primark's racist Walking Dead shirt???

Reverend

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39051079/backlash-after-primark-pulls-fantastically-offensive-walking-dead-t-shirt

BloodEagle

Surely this is only racist because some tool guy kicked off about it and made the connection with a looong unused and now v obscure rhyme. Claiming it encourages a racist assault ffs what a tit

Bridgehouse

Is it racist against zombies?

JezWynd

It's a dumb and offensive tee shirt whether it's racist or not. What kind of prick wants to walk around displaying this shit on their chest.

Steffo

The only thing that is fantastically offensive is the level of intelligence of the tool that complained about it.

CHRISB50

Look like a cock - yes

Offensive to me - no 

57Deluxe

Why did they think a Jeremy Clarkson inspired T would be popliar in the first place?

Moe_Zambeek

I have to say, having grown up when that particular rhyme was still in use in it's original, now considered offensive version (not that long ago, either), what I hear in my head after the line on the T shirt is not something I would want to be associated with. If you're familiar with the original rhyme but not the TV show this shirt is merch for, and hence only have the original context, juxtaposing that with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire could very well cause deep offense. 

Having said that, I wouldn't report it to the shop, as far as i'm concerned people can wear whatever the hell they like, offensive or not.

Reverend

I'm not that version is the original version. It certainly is an older version but as far as I can tell the rhyme has roots that go back a long way. 

BloodEagle

Yeah, it's a just a shit t-shirt. I find it more offensive that Primark(and fucking top shop) now sell Slayer shirts tbh

DefaultM

Were any black people actually offended by this, or was it all white people being offended on their behalf?

english_bob

Reverend said:

I'm not that version is the original version. It certainly is an older version but as far as I can tell the rhyme has roots that go back a long way. 

Exactly. There was *a* version of it that contained a racial slur. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eeny,_meeny,_miny,_moe

Yer man clearly doesn't watch The Walking Dead (the t-shirt clearly has a Walking Dead label on it that should have steered him in the right direction), but rather than thinking "I don't understand why this t-shirt says "eeny meeny miny moe" on it and has a bloody baseball bat, I'll jump to the entirely reasonable conclusion that Primark is openly encouraging racially motivated assault. Maybe I should write a strongly worded letter". 

"This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America." he says, like it's something they all get up to on a national holiday or something. FFS.

JezWynd said:

It's a dumb and offensive tee shirt whether it's racist or not. What kind of prick wants to walk around displaying this shit on their chest.

Walking Dead fans, obviously. I agree through, it seems an odd thing to want on your clothing.

LoFi

Moe_Zambeek said:

I have to say, having grown up when that particular rhyme was still in use in it's original, now considered offensive version (not that long ago, either), what I hear in my head after the line on the T shirt is not something I would want to be associated with. If you're familiar with the original rhyme but not the TV show this shirt is merch for, and hence only have the original context, juxtaposing that with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire could very well cause deep offense. 

Having said that, I wouldn't report it to the shop, as far as i'm concerned people can wear whatever the hell they like, offensive or not.

This is my POV - originally saw this discussed elsewhere; while I'm not that old, I'm familiar with the original version (via a not-at-all-racist grandmother) and not familiar with the Walking Dead (or at least - I know it's a TV show, but had no idea of the relevance of the baseball bat or the rhyme).

So, basically, I saw a picture of a t-shirt with a wired baseball bat and a rhyme with racist connotations, and thought "F***ing hell, that's a bit off!".

not_the_dj

My kids would think it's about pirates (there's an episode of Octonauts where Kwazii uses that rhyme to decide between two different routes whilst searching for a hidden city in the amazon).

My father in law would think it's about murdering blacks....but he is a racist old sod who uses the offensive version and thinks it's funny to do so.

Neither of them watch the Walking Dead.

BloodEagle

not_the_dj said:

My kids would think it's about pirates (there's an episode of Octonauts where Kwazii uses that rhyme to decide between two different routes whilst searching for a hidden city in the amazon).

Octonauts is notoriously racist, I assume youve never seen the now censored episode where Captain Barnacles is wearing a Skrewdriver t-shirt?

ThePrettyDamned

I never knew that rhyme had racist connotations. 

It's still sung in primary schools, my girlfriend's 5 year old brother (mixed race) sings it all the time when picking who he will traumatise play with next. I've never heard a racist version, so I learnt something today. To my knowledge, he's never been told off for singing it...

No idea who would wear it, but then again, I'm not exactly on trend

impmann

Offensive? Well, the original version of the rhyme is.

I'd imagine that more people in this world know the original rhyme than the link to a TV show. Therefore you'd be walking around with a slogan on your chest that many would consider part of a rhyme that is offensive.

So is it offensive in itself? Probably not. But it has connotations that aren't the sort of thing that most sane humans would want to be associated with.

ThePrettyDamned

impmann said:

Offensive? Well, the original version of the rhyme is.

I'd imagine that more people in this world know the original rhyme than the link to a TV show. Therefore you'd be walking around with a slogan on your chest that many would consider part of a rhyme that is offensive.

So is it offensive in itself? Probably not. But it has connotations that aren't the sort of thing that most sane humans would want to be associated with.

Yeah, I'd agree with this - it's the kind of thing that, frankly, is probably best left alone, unless they really clearly branded it to the walking dead. A baseball bat doesn't do that for people who have not seen the show, whereas a logo probably would. 

Skipped

english_bob said:

"This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America." he says, like it's something they all get up to on a national holiday or something. FFS.

But.....Lynch Mobs did look like that.
They looked exactly like you have described.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u48PufZOdlA/UO3M2cb6k0I/AAAAAAAAAeA/SN9b0uKhbgk/s1600/a-lynch31-bw-detail1.jpg

Babones

Yet he's buying clothes from (questionable working conditions/slave labour) Primark.

Babones

In before Sambostar...

I see an 'axe', but no bat.