Clothing Company Apologizes for ‘Black Women Are Trash’ T-Shirts
An online retailer that sold T-shirts with the message “Black Women Are Trash” has issued an apology after public outcry.
Teespring, a Kentucky-based clothing company, has removed the shirts in question. However, judging by screenshots on a website called Bougie Black Girl, the items sold for $13 and could be purchased along with coffee mugs, colorful tank tops, and hooded sweatshirts that bore the same message.
“We’d like to apologize for this offensive content that was posted on the Teespring platform,” a Teespring representative said in a statement to Yahoo Style on Monday. “It does not reflect our views as an organization, and it violates Teespring’s acceptable use policies. Our team has removed this item from our site, and we’re monitoring closely to take down any other products that violate our content guidelines.”
According to Bougie Black Girl, the merchandise was designed by a man who uses the Twitter handle @TruCharter and was promoting the merchandise on Twitter.
@TruCharter did not respond to Yahoo Style’s requests for comment, however the T-shirts were reportedly a response to another shirt sold on Teespring that read “Men Are Trash.” The description on the “Black Women Are Trash” T-shirt read, “Let your voice be heard and make a statement with the ‘Black Women Are Trash’ T-shirt in response to this abuse.”
On Twitter, many rejoiced when the T-shirts were removed and some called for a boycott of the brand, which donates part of its proceeds to the designer’s charity of choice.
The "Black women are trash" shirt was removed from @teespring. Thanks to everyone who reported it.
— jamilah (@JamilahLemieux) May 8, 2017
I reported all the T-Shirts that said "Men & Black Women are TRASH on Teespring! ???? Spread love people
— ?Yve?Lioness? (@AdoreYve) May 7, 2017
Boycott Teespring…this is unacceptable. https://t.co/lYspL6t1kZ
— Alison (@AlisonBlackwell) May 7, 2017
Ironically, Teespring also sells statement shirts that read “Nevertheless She Persisted,” “Here’s to Strong Women. May We Know Them, May We Be Them, May We Raise Them,” and “Girls Just Want to Have FUN-damental Rights.”
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