On American television, Bomani Jones wore a T-shirt that said “Caucasians”. It had a cartoon picture of the grinning face of a White man with a dollar sign above his head. This was on ESPN on the “Mike & Mike” show on April 7th 2016.
ESPN “freaked out” and told him to cover it up. He met them half way and covered part of it.
On Twitter people said stuff like:
“@espn So when are you going to suspend racist @bomani_jones? Or is being a racial provocateur consistent with your “values?”#Never”
“I don’t blame Bomani for being a disgrace, I blame @espn for allowing it. @bomani_jones who hurt you? I’m serious, I don’t want ppl in pain.”
“@bomani_jones is a racist and should be fired @espn how does that go down if it’s a white guy with a “negros” shirt on? You guys are a joke.”
“@bomani_jones Your shirt is also racist,proving what? I don’t agree with Chief Wahoo, however, ALL races have worn him proudly. #Clueless”
“@espn @ESPNRadio @Espngreeny I refuse to watch M&M this morning cause of bomani’s shirt! Totally offensive! #AllLivesMatter #racist”
The T-shirt, designed ten years ago by Shelf Life Clothing Co., was modelled directly on T-shirts for the Cleveland Indians baseball team – but with the race changed. It uses a White American in place of Chief Wahoo, the team’s Native American mascot:
Jones on why he wore the T-shirt:
“The statement is obvious. This is the same thing. What we have here, this is the same thing that goes on with the logo for the Cleveland Indians. So to have a problem with the logo of this would be to have a problem with the Indians. But if you’re quiet about the Indians and now you’ve got something to say about my shirt, I think it’s time for introspection.”
If he is racist for wearing a Caucasians T-shirt, then what does make those who wear Cleveland Indians T-shirts?
There are in fact already White mascots, like the New England Patriots, but they are by and for White people, they do not have racialized names, like “Whites” or “Caucasians” or “Europeans”, and their teams are not in states where White genocide has taken place.
Flipping the script does help some to see the racist double standards they have grown blind to. Unfortunately, it goes right over the heads of the very people most in need of getting the point.
Native Americans have been protesting Chief Wahoo every year since 1968.
The city government of Cleveland has recently banned Chief Wahoo’s image from its utility poles downtown.
Nike, which makes money selling sportswear featuring Chief Wahoo, sees little wrong with it.
The team itself has been moving towards using a “C” in place of Chief Wahoo since 2011, but baseball hats with Chief Wahoo’s image were a bestseller last year.
The owner, Paul Dolan, says there are:
“no plans to get rid of Chief Wahoo, it is part of our history and legacy”
sounding strangely like a Confederate flag waver.
Thanks to Mary Burrell for suggesting this post.
– Abagond, 2016.
Sources: Mainly Clutch Magazine and Vocativ.
See also:
- Chief Wahoo
- The term “redskin”
- Caucasian
- “All Lives Matter”
- Confederate flag
- White empathy
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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You can’t make this stuff up. People are mad at a Caucasian logo? That’s surprising to me because evidently Caucasians are everywhere. Ancient Sumerians? Caucasian. Ancient Egyptians Caucasian. Indians Caucasian. Phoenicians Caucasian. If all these groups of people were or are Caucasian then what exactly is the problem as Caucasian clearly does not mean white.
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The White Thin Skins is pretty hilarious and appropriate.
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Fire the prick, if it would have been a black toned face with white teeth on a white affiliate of ESPN the Black Community would have a march, boycott, Media bash, with Al Sharpton on top.
Make an example that this behavior Will not be condoned. Their should not be a double standard. Get rid of him Already!
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^^ Thinskin.
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They could also reclaim ‘Redneck’.
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The Thinskin Rednecks.
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1. I LOVE the Thinskn logo 😂
2. They seem to want to be oppressed sooo bad. I say let’s give em’ what they want…
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Thick Skins logo is fitting, too.
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Victory celebrations turned into mass rioting after the The Cleveland Caucasians defeated The Washington Thick Skins, clinching the 2018 World Series.
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lmao!
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A white man tears post, Afrofem and Herneith
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Reblogged this on League of Bloggers For a Better World.
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Trolling at its finest, for all the right reasons.
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The “white thin skins” sound like the name of a condom.
.
“Hey man, lemme get me a pack of them white thin skins ya got on sale right there!”
“Um.. do they come in all sizes?”
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Fan….
ROTFWL!!!!
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When so-called minorities fail to go along with the white man’s script, white people immediately become disquieted and bothered when they are given a dosage of their own medicine. They got ambushed. Good job Bomani Jones!
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@blakksage
+1
This is a good example why some people will never understand until it directly affects them.
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How about the salty crackers
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Okay how about the salty saltines.
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The white Thinskins has me laughing my posterior off. They can dish it out but can’t take it.
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ah taste those white tears
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This is hilarious! I have to give Bomani props for wearing that shirt. I need to get that shirt. I would wear it everywhere.lol
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Washington PinkSkins.
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Washington Pale Skins?
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Indiana Invaders have a certain ring to it.
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@taotesan
White men’s tears would be a good companion piece to this post.
The comments on this post have been devilishly funny. LOL!
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@ Mary Burrell
“salty crackers”! LMAO!!!
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@Fan
Too funny!
@Blakksage
Good points!
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@Kiwi
Laugh at the sheer hypocrisy of it all. LOL!
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@Kiwi
I have found that it is not a matter of not understanding so much as just not caring. A lot of this stuff is way too obvious.
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resw said: “This is a good example why some people will never understand until it directly affects them.”
Very true!
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Here’s a song for all the downtrodden white peoples who’s feelings were , are hurt by this t-shirt. My sympathies!:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vuap3Q6a8M)
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How about the Caucasian Cannards?
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@ Herneith
Time Out For Tears…that song is one of the reasons Dinah Washington is a legend. Thanks for sharing.
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I’m skeptical that white people are going to find this offensive. In fact some hipster will think this shirt is cool and make a bunch of money off of it. It will be like some kind of new fashion statement that they will call art.
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Have not read all of post or all of comments – like I really really have too!? but I really really like this ,in fact I think I’ll be printing up some t-shirts and posters ,now let me reblog and facebook share proudly!
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@ Abagond
I third Afrofem and Herneith’s suggestion for a post on ‘white man tears’.
Laughing my head off at all the comments
@Fan… I was in my lunch break yesterday when I read your comment, I was laughing so uncontrollably, my sides hurt. I had to show my colleague your Thinskin comment. She was in hysterics, too.
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If I am getting this right the white Thinskins are getting bent out of shape because a Black guy wore a Caucasian T-shirt when they cant see the irony or racism of that grotesque caricature and name of the First People
Their disgusting lack of respect for First and Black people is so apparent, all over a game of rounders.
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No Black / African or First People named them Caucasian. They did that to themselves, so now they want to get bent out of shape, with puffy eyes. They are the ones who named themselves after a the big skull find in the Caucasus in the 18 th century.
When I last looked in the atlas, the Caucasus are in ASIA.
I am confused now.
Can’t they be renamed
Cleveland Cretins
or Cleveland Big Heads
or Cleveland Thin Skins?
What about
Thin Skin Big Heads
or Thin Skin Caucasians
or Thin Skin Cretins
or Big Head Pale Skins?
or the obvious Cleveland Caucasians?
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@ taotesan
😀
Tim Wise (a white anti-racist) isn’t very popular around here, BUT sometimes he gets it just right..
Here’s one of several old pieces he wrote about this double standard.
http://www.timwise.org/2002/06/honky-wanna-cracker-examining-the-myth-of-reverse-racism/
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Where can I get one of each?
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Nobody ‘likes’ my suggestions? Well, I am sorry IF you were offended.
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@ taotesan
No offense taken here.
I usually find your summaries on the mark!
In fact, now that I’m using youtube to understand South Africa/Motherland better, I look forward to your unique style and indelible analysis pertaining to all manner of white-supremacy/racism.
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@ Fan….
For now,
Fan….. my non apology was not meant for people like you. 🙂
Tongue in cheek flip of white fauxpology to the soggy pretzels.
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@ Fan….
And thank you.
I will post a comment to you tonight on the Open Thread
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The double standard is obvious in the reactions found in White Twitter. They don’t know or don’t want to know that that’s the whole point. Their hypocrisy is staggering.
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@taotesan
“Nobody ‘likes’ my suggestions? Well, I am sorry IF you were offended.”
Perhaps response was thin because in the US, this week people are preoccupied with tax preparation. Tax day is April 15th here and a lot of us wait until the last minute to work on our taxes.
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@Fan… and Afrofem
“Well, I am sorry IF you were offended”
Is the way white people apologize when they have caused offense. I was using the same device, for the same the kind of people. I was using ‘not like’ and IF to further make fun, not to complain. My attempt at dry humour. I really was not being serious at all, jabbing further at the thinskins double standard. It was tongue in cheek sarcasm play on white people’s sensitivity,not meant for the people like you or Fan… Hope it clears that I up, because my ‘fauxpology’ taken literally makes me sound like a whining loser.
Good luck with tax preparation.
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One last one:
Cleveland Crack*rs
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According to the Daily Mail in the UK, sales of the shirts have surged since Jones wore the shirt on TV.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-3530928/Caucasians-shirt-sales-jump-ESPNs-Jones-appearance.html
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Even still I don’t stand with Bomani, many Native Americans are VERY racist towards black people and don’t give a damn about our issues I could care less what offends them.
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