One white Zara tee is leading to a lot of red faces
One little T-shirt is stirring up a whole lot of commotion.
Spanish retailer Zara is dealing with backlash over its “White is the new black” slogan tee, which many are viewing as racist and insensitive. The controversial T-shirt sports black block letters over white fabric.
It’s a possibility the swanky international brand was attempting to model what they thought was a clever play on words in reference to the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, but that remains unclear -- Zara has yet to comment on the controversial apparel.
In the midst of the investigation of Michael Brown's death, which spurred violent protests in Ferguson, Mo. last week and has reopened discussions about racism, some fashionistas are taking to Twitter to vent about the not-so-chic tee and how the timing of Zara's get-up uproar has seemed to hit rock bottom.
Zara should've known this wouldn't go down well, even if they were where just trying to be quirky with colours pic.twitter.com/L0hdcaf9p8— ugly irl (@chlorisdemeter) August 12, 2014
@ZARA With all the uproar about cultural appropriation, did you really think it was a good idea to print a "White is the New Black" shirt?— D'usse Fiasco (@karyewest) August 11, 2014
Is Zara really selling "white is the new black " T shirts? How about insensitive is the new dumb t-shirts#kickrocks!— Tamara Gregory (@Dumas2TTG) August 12, 2014
But some are more forgiving toward Zara than others.
Drew Keyes, a black 25-year-old who attended Marquette University, believes the shirt wasn't intended to be racist and therefore it's not.
"I think the designer didn't intend to speak on race ... While people may infuse their own experiences, and that's understandable, they (Zara) have no need to apologize for a transgression they didn't intend to commit," he says. "Sure, it may have been silly, but that was likely due to a language barrier."
Tweeters echo Keyes' sentiments.
Thats clearly not what Zara means by "White is the New Black". Stop making everything a race issue. Smh— LC (@LovelyAURA) August 11, 2014
The slogan tee is not currently offered on Zara's website. A manager at a Zara shop in Bethesda, Md. declined to comment on the shirt regarding whether or not it is currently being sold.
What do you think? Do you find the shirt offensive? Tell us in the comments below.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.