Cubs T-Shirt Vendors: Capitalizing on Overt Racial Stereotypes

Myself and E have been talking about this all season and now that the mainstream media has hopped on it today, it bears bringing up: these t-shirts to your right vendors are selling outside Wrigley Field are a bit insensitive.

The headbands they're selling are one thing, but replacing the letter "l" with the letter "r" and making an Asian-looking face on the Cubs logo is a whole 'nother thing. And before we get into the discussion of whether or not this world of ours today is too PC or I'm overreacting, why don't we just go to Kosuke Fukudome himself.

From Gordon Wittenmyer in today's Chicago Sun-Times:

'I don't know what the creator of the shirt meant this to be, but they should make it right,'' Fukudome said through his interpreter after being shown one of the shirts Thursday. ''Maybe the creator created it because he thought it was funny, or maybe he made it to condescend the race. I don't know.''
Regardless, it's not funny. The image feeds not only ugly, arrogant and ignorant Japanese stereotypes, but also the stereotype of the obnoxious, profane, drunken, booing, garbage-throwing Cubs fan.

So there you have it: if the man himself isn't feeling it ... it's probably wasn't in the best taste of the vendors to dream these shirts up. Hopefully, in due time and with the attention this has gotten today, they'll take them off their shelves for good.

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