T-shirt in Primark discontinued because of racist 'eeny meeny miny moe' message

DredFX · 23-02-2017 11:28AM #1

Now this rubs me the wrong way:

BBC

But now there's a backlash on social media, with some complaining it's an example of customers being "over-sensitive".
The T-shirt in question is licensed merchandise from The Walking Dead.
It features the rhyme "eeny meeny miny moe", which has a racist origin.

T-shirt

The tune has typically been used by children as a counting rhyme and some early versions of it included references to offensive terms for black people.
More related stories

Along with the words, the T-shirt also features an image of a baseball bat and barbed wire.

This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America - Ian Lucraft, Primark customer

The rhyme features in a scene in The Walking Dead when one character is deciding which person in a group they are going to kill.
"The T-shirt in question is licensed merchandise for the US television series, The Walking Dead, and the quote and image are taken directly from the show," Primark said in a statement.
"Any offence caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologises for this.
"Primark has removed the product from sale."

Customer Ian Lucraft, who complained about the top to Primark, and his wife Gwen had been in a Sheffield branch of the store when they spotted the item of clothing.
"We were shocked when we came face to face with a new T-shirt with a racially explicit graphic and text," he told The Sheffield Star.
"It was fantastically offensive and I can only assume that no-one in the process of ordering it knew what they were doing, or were aware of its subliminal messages.
"The graphic has a large American baseball bat, wrapped round with barbed wire, and covered with blood.
"This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America.
"It is directly threatening of a racist assault, and if I were black and were faced by a wearer I would know just where I stood."

So, a man who isn't even black finds a tacky t-shirt featuring a children's rhyme fantastically offensive. (Lovely choice of adverb there.)

I think he's right, because the fact that it is now commonly used by kids to choose between the last two players for a football match doesn't overturn its previous usage as a racial slur well over a century ago.

Ugh. Your thoughts?

EDIT: Easy with the spoilers, people. Not everyone has seen that all-important episode.

Winterlong · 23-02-2017 11:29AM

I can't decide if I am outraged or not.
Anyone know a good way to pick between the two?

endacl · 23-02-2017 11:31AM

Winterlong wrote: »

I can't decide if I am outraged or not.
Anyone know a good way to pick between the two?

Do you feel triggered?

Mr. Incognito · 23-02-2017 11:31AM

These offended people offend me.

ohnonotgmail · 23-02-2017 11:32AM

Eeny meeny miny mo
catch a tiger by the toe
if it screams let it go
eeny meeny miny mo

where is the racial slur again?

DredFX · 23-02-2017 11:33AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Eeny meeny miny mo
catch a tiger by the toe
if it screams let it go
eeny meeny miny mo

where is the racial slur again?

In the 19th century.

CiDeRmAn · 23-02-2017 11:35AM

Not that long ago the Tiger was a Tigger, and a little while before that it was that derogatory term for a person of African origin.

That said, for those that understand the reference it makes perfect sense and represents no racial slur at all.

ohnonotgmail · 23-02-2017 11:35AM

DredFX wrote: »

In the 19th century.

so not relevant to the current day then. glad we sorted that out.

ohnonotgmail · 23-02-2017 11:36AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Not that long ago the Tiger was a Tigger, and a little while before that it was that derogatory term for a person of African origin.

define "a little while". as a child growing up in the 70s the N word wasnt used.

CiDeRmAn · 23-02-2017 11:37AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

define "a little while". as a child growing up in the 70s the N word wasnt used.

I grew up in the 70s and it was.
Depends on where you were raised I guess, different places sang it... differently.

super_furry · 23-02-2017 11:37AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

define "a little while". as a child growing up in the 70s the N word wasnt used.

As a child growing up in the 80s, it was. Regional variations and all that, I'm sure, but where I grew up that was the standard.

ohnonotgmail · 23-02-2017 11:38AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I grew up in the 70s and it was.
Depends on where you were raised I guess, different places sang it... differently.

super_furry wrote: »

As a child growing up in the 80s, it was. Regional variations and all that, I'm sure, but where I grew up that was the standard.

i think that says more about you than the tshirt.

Grandeeod · 23-02-2017 11:40AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I grew up in the 70s and it was.
Depends on where you were raised I guess, different places sang it... differently.

Same here and I didnt even know what it meant.

23-02-2017 11:40AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Not that long ago the Tiger was a Tigger, and a little while before that it was that derogatory term for a person of African origin.

Yeah but for it to be a racist slur there has to be context. A rhyme can't be deemed racist because a word that used to be in the rhyme is deemed racist.

CiDeRmAn · 23-02-2017 11:41AM

As I said in the edited post, the phrase makes perfect sense in context so it shouldn't have generated that much offence.
That said, its historical context might be incredibly offensive to the group originally maligned in the rhyme, so maybe it's right to be removed.
The guy who used the rhyme was a viscous lunatic, context again, but should that mean that if a character in the media used racist language that it should greenlight marketing to produce apparel emblazoned with the phrases?

super_furry · 23-02-2017 11:42AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i think that says more about you than the tshirt.

Yes. As a child I was fully responsible for the culture of casual racism in Ireland in the 80s. Great call.

jamesbere · 23-02-2017 11:44AM

super_furry wrote: »

Yes. As a child I was fully responsible for the culture of casual racism in Ireland in the 80s. Great call.

So it was you :pac:

brevity · 23-02-2017 11:45AM

I grew up in the 80's and the N word was used. I was so young that I didn't understand and thought we were saying "Nicker". It was only when my Aunt, who lives in America, visited and advised that it wasn't a nice thing to say.

Quackster · 23-02-2017 11:46AM

super_furry wrote: »

As a child growing up in the 80s, it was. Regional variations and all that, I'm sure, but where I grew up that was the standard.

Likewise.

Lollipops23 · 23-02-2017 11:46AM

It was always "tigger" when I was small (early to mid 90s). I never knew the old version included the racial slur until I was in my 20s.

I think the gob****e who complained needs to get a grip on himself.

osarusan · 23-02-2017 11:46AM

"It is directly threatening of a racist assault, and if I were black and were faced by a wearer I would know just where I stood."

You'd be standing face to face with a Walking Dead fan, or somebody who just buys cheap t-shirts from Primark.

Funny that he would allow that the designers were not aware of what they were doing, but he would assume any purchaser was aware.

brevity · 23-02-2017 11:50AM

The guy complaining is obviously not aware of The Walking Dead. Someone should have a word that the phrase isn't related to the racist rhyme from years ago.

23-02-2017 11:51AM

The graphic has a large American baseball bat, wrapped round with barbed wire, and covered with blood. This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America.

No it doesn't.

whisky_galore · 23-02-2017 11:54AM

super_furry wrote: »

Yes. As a child I was fully responsible for the culture of casual racism in Ireland in the 80s. Great call.

We never saw a black person in rural Ireland in the 1980's...we thought they only existed on tv...Mr T...Benson...Axel Foley...etc...

ohnonotgmail · 23-02-2017 11:56AM

whisky_galore wrote: »

We never saw a black person in rural Ireland in the 1980's...we thought they only existed on tv...Mr T...Benson...Axel Foley...etc...

i didnt meet my first black person til i was 12.

One eyed Jack · 23-02-2017 11:58AM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i think that says more about you than the tshirt.

All ot says about anyone is that to them as children growing up in Ireland in the 70's and 80's, the rhyme had no meaning whatsoever! There was hardly a black person to be found in Ireland then anyway apart from the token black guy in Blazing Saddles!!

Same thing with any term - it's completely meaningless until someone interprets it, so this idiot interpreted it to be racist because he remembered the rhyme and interpreted it that way. I don't watch the Walking Dead myself (I probably should now

), but I thought it was a reference to Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (I watched that alright, shìte movie, but Margot Robbie was fair handy with a bat!).

In short, the whining little piggy in this non-story should stay at home when he's that narrow minded that he doesn't appear to have grown the fcuk up!!

osarusan · 23-02-2017 12:04PM

Also, the versions I remember was catch a nipper by the toe, if it squeezes let it go.

Never knew until today I was advocating violence against Japanese people.

lazybones32 · 23-02-2017 12:10PM

I hope his wife Gwen tore the arse off him with a large strap-on that night.

Knine · 23-02-2017 12:11PM

I brought a little pair of pink trousers from Penny's for my young daughter. I only noticed when I got them home that there was a slogan on them saying "I love Mickey"