Spencer's Gifts selling anti-Asian racist t-shirts *petition

[Sizwe_X]

This just came down the pipe. Spread the word and do something. Step up for the APIA community.

Happy new year everyone,

If you thought the Abercrombie & Fitch debacle would raise some awareness among retailers about racial sensitivity, think again.

My friend recently spotted some very offensive shirts at Spencer Gifts (New Jersey based company) at Mayfair Mall in Victoria BC. Please go to http://vanessa_au.blogspot.com/2006/01/boycott-spencer-gifts.html to see the photos of them.

Below is a letter I sent to the company's executives at their
headquarters in New Jersey today. I encourage you to do the
same. The company's contact info follows my letter.Or,
at the very least, please sign my online petiton
http://www.petitiononline.com/APA911/petition.html
Please pass this along...

Best,
Vanessa Au

To Spencer Gifts:

You obviously learned nothing from the Abercrombie &
Fitch debacle. I am appalled and disgusted by your line
of “Asian-themed” t-shirts featuring stereotyped Asian
caricatures and offensive text. The shirt that reads
“SUK MAI COCK POULTRY FARM” is an obvious mockery of
the Chinese language and sophomoric jab at Asians and
their supposed difficulty with English spelling and
comprehension. The shirt featuring the likeness of
Buddha, which reads “I MAY BE FAT BUT MY COCK IS HUGE,”
demonstrates blatant disrespect for a religious deity
and the religion’s followers. One need only replace the
image of Buddha with that of Jesus Christ and swap
“fat” with “skinny” to see how offensive this would be
to the Christian majority. Finally, the shirt that
reads “HANG OUT WITH YOUR WANG OUT” features a
caricature of a slanted-eyed, buck-toothed Chinese man
wearing a queue and rice paddy hat and childishly
holding his penis. This image is demeaning and
painfully reminiscent of racist images in popular
culture in the early 1900s.

Whether you intended to offend or to be funny and
irreverent is not the issue. The issue is that the
shirts are plainly offensive. Images like those on
shirts sold by Spencer Gifts serve to promote the
misleading notion that Asians are exotic foreigners to
be insulted and ridiculed without consequence.
The shirts are not funny, innovative, novel, or edgy.
They are racist and degrading and I demand an official
public apology and a recall of the aforementioned
shirts. Until then, I vow to boycott Spencer Online and all Spencer
Gifts stores and will encourage others to do the same.

Respectfully,
Vanessa Au

Email the execs:
Steven Silverstein
President and CEO steven.silverstein@spencergifts.com
Isaac Silvera
EVP and CFO isaac.silvera@spencergifts.com
Michael D. (Mike) Champion
Manager, Promotion and Publicity
michael.champion@spencergifts.com

Call or write to corporate headquarters:
Spencer Gifts, LLC
6826 Black Horse Pike
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Phone: 609-645-3300
Fax: 609-645-5633

sign my online petiton
http://www.petitiononline.com/APA911/petition.html

[kimpossible]

An image to put with one of the shirts in question. It's the caricature one.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2722/136/400/DSC00058.jpg

[TB4000]

I've actually seen these at the Spencer's over here. Kinda shocked they would have them.
http://www.spencersonline.com/images/spencers/products/processed/00508960.detail.a.jpg

[Banana]

Wow. They even managed to work the penis stereotype in that picture.

[diving_cats]

i agree it is very offensive, pls keep an update on any progress with this issue thx. i would like to see spencers do something about this.

[Banana]

Did Spencer actually create the items themselves or are they just selling someone else's creations?

[Dei Wong]

How are they even allowed to sell and carry such offensive products?

[younggiftedandblack]

I've always thought Spencer's was never protested because it was novelty store and people just didn't take them serious unlike an A&F.

[Sizwe_X]

Letters sent to these guys
Email the execs:
Steven Silverstein
President and CEO steven.silverstein@spencergifts.com
Isaac Silvera
EVP and CFO isaac.silvera@spencergifts.com
Michael D. (Mike) Champion
Manager, Promotion and Publicity
michael.champion@spencergifts.com

I am corresponding with you to voice my concern with some products using derogatory ethnic and bigoted stereotypes your company is currently marketing.

Specifically, the following three t-shirts are being sold by your company:

SUK MAI COCK POULTRY FARM

I MAY BE FAT BUT MY COCK IS HUGE – with an image of Buddha on it

HANG OUT WITH YOUR WANG OUT – with a racist Asian caricature on it

The shirt that reads “SUK MAI COCK POULTRY FARM” is an obvious mockery of
Asian languages and is a sophomoric slur directed at Asians/Asian Americans and
their supposed difficulty with English spelling and comprehension. The second shirt “I MAY BE FAT BUT MY COCK IS HUGE” – with an image of Buddha on it is an illustration of the low regard your corporation holds Asians and Asian-Americans through their commodification of Asian religious and cultural iconography. Finally, the shirt reading “HANG OUT WITH YOUR WANG OUT” has a stereotypical racist depiction of a “Chinaman” with buck teeth, slanted eyes, and holding his genitals on this shirt composed of ethnic slurs. I am really disturbed by this shirt considering the fact that these shirts blatantly exploit Asian racial stereotypes in a demeaning manner. Can you imagine if Spencer’s had marketed a shirt with a Hasidic Jew holding his genitals on it and writing that said, “HANG OUT WITH YOUR BAGEL OUT” or an African-American holding his genitals and a statement like, “HANG OUT WITH YOUR WATERMELON OUT”? The quick answer is that you would not see shirts like that because it would be disgusting and offensive to the people caricatured on the shirt. So why is it acceptable for Spencer’s to do this to Asians/Asian Americans? Does your company find Asians/Asian Americans a more acceptable subject and target for its marketed racism? It is unacceptable for Spencer’s to be carrying this merchandise that demeans Asians and furthermore, to be profiting from the perpetuation of racism through its marketing of racial stereotypes.

Recall the shirts, and I would suggest that your company educate its buyers in regards to promoting and marketing racism for profit.

[LaiSteve66]

That's pretty insensitive. Boycott them.

[Marzbarz]

Very insensitive I might add. I'm definitley not going to them for my brothers Halloween costumes.Mr.Silverstein would definitley not allow shirts that were racist against Jews.

[ahsingjai]

Wow. They even managed to work the penis stereotype in that picture.

Spencer's gifts specializes in "adult" gifts.

[Faithless]

Do you just attack the racist nature, or the sexist one, as well?

Judging by all the stuff they sell, they might not give a shit about the racial nature of their stuff. They sell dildo's, penis pacifiers, Hookahs.

BTW, I like this hat.

http://www.spencersonline.com/images/spencers/products/processed/00521807.detail.a.jpg

[kasia]

i'm sure retailers are well aware of our line of attack by now. is there some flaw? in the times that have been publicized (and i guess that's probaby why), the merchandise was taken off the shelves and manufacturers and retailers lost money? so the question is - should we change our strategy?

i would still advocate that calling directly and faxing in your complaint letters is more effective than signing an on-line petition.

[Banana]

I think calling them directly on the phone works much better than emailing or faxing them. It's harder to ignore.

[thaite]

You mean Spencer's, purveyor of shitty gifts? Are they even still around?

[Sizwe_X]

i'm sure retailers are well aware of our line of attack by now. is there some flaw? in the times that have been publicized (and i guess that's probaby why), the merchandise was taken off the shelves and manufacturers and retailers lost money? so the question is - should we change our strategy?

i would still advocate that calling directly and faxing in your complaint letters is more effective than signing an on-line petition.

If you have local or state Human Relations Commissions, Commissions on Human Rights, or Commissions on Civil Rights, it would be a good idea to contact them.

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PHRC/index.html

These shirts have already been brought to the attention of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the incident is being logged into the Pennsylvania Inter-Agency
Task Force on Civil Tension http://www.stopbias.org/
The task force will discuss this incident, among others at the January meeting and will send Spencer Gifts a notice to request that the shirts be pulled.

[Sizwe_X]

The Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Governor's Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs has recommended the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission formally request that Spencer Gifts recall the shirts. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission did the same thing in regards to the Burlington Coat Factory anti-Asian shirts and those shirts were subsequently pulled.

A letter submitted to Assemblymember Judy Chu's office today.
Dear Assemblymember Chu,

I received the following email in regards to anti-Asian t-shirts that
are being sold nationwide and in Canada by Spencer Gifts and thought
that you would be interested in this matter considering your office's
assistance in encouraging Burlington Coat Factory to recall similar
anti-Asian shirts. Please consider writing the corporate leadership
of Spencer Gifts to request that they cease and desist their practice
of selling items that contain racist and stereotypical depictions of
Asians and Asian-Americans. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful
consideration of this matter.

[BestChinese]

I aplaud any asian who are willing to stand up so all the reast of Asian can live in a better world!

[younggiftedandblack]

I've actually seen these at the Spencer's over here. Kinda shocked they would have them.
http://www.spencersonline.com/images/spencers/products/processed/00508960.detail.a.jpg
I used to work with an AA guy who brought the T-Shirt that said that and wore it to the club.

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.angryasianman.com/angry.html

From Angry Asian Man

01.13.06
This comes to our attention from Vanessa, who spotted some racist Asian-themed teacher at a Spencer Gifts store. Like this one:


Ha ha. So funny. That's racist!

On one hand, you'd think they might have learned something from the Abercrombie & Fitch debacle. On the other hand, it's likely they actually took their cues from the whole ordeal and said hey, racist t-shirts are cool. A&F did it, we should too! Thus, the wave of copycat shirts over the years. Details on the campaign protesting this latest batch of shirts being sold at Spencer Gifts are available here, including corporate contact info:

Email the execs:

Steven Silverstein
President and CEO
steven.silverstein@spencergifts.com

Isaac Silvera
EVP and CFO
isaac.silvera@spencergifts.com

Michael D. (Mike) Champion
Manager, Promotion and Publicity
michael.champion@spencergifts.com

Call or write to corporate headquarters:

Spencer Gifts, LLC
6826 Black Horse Pike
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Phone: 609-645-3300
Fax: 609-645-5633

Website http://www.spencergifts.com/

There's also an online petition here: Boycott Spencer Gifts - Racist "Asian" Shirts

I hope this campaign gains some ground, and I hope you speak out. Don't take crap like this lying down. But to be honest, I don't think Spencer Gifts is really going to care. This is the kind of crap they sell. It's no surprise to anyone in their corporate offices that these shirts are intended to offend. It's racist, and they know it. They want people to get upset. Hell, they expect it. This sucks, but it's hard to impress conscience upon a company that probably didn't care in the first place. I said it once, but I'll say it again: That's racist!



List of peddlers of anti-Asian racist chic:

Abercrombie & Fitch - & therefore Hollister
Target Corporation
Burlington Coat Factory
David and Goliath
tshirthell.com

Am I missing any? :mad:

[soapzen]

Ugh. I have no clue what to do about these things. I wouldn't shop at Spencer's anyway.

I would like to know however what the NCAAP and JDL would do if Spencers began selling T-Shirts with derogatory black or jewish caricatures. You all know as well as I do that they wouldn't be in stores long.

Heck, you wouldn't have a derogatory racially insulting company name on any US business for long either. Because those organizations would do something. Now what do they do????

Black and Jewish organizations have long practice of dealing with this type of discrimination, and we need to figure out how to take a page from it.

Anyone know any black or jewish organizations to ask about how they handle overt commercial racism?

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Guessing from the CEO's name, I don't think you're gonna find them selling anti-Jewish t-shirts anytime soon ...

[DragonKnight]

Guessing from the CEO's name, I don't think you're gonna find them selling anti-Jewish t-shirts anytime soon ...
Left a voicemail and mentioned that his last name may suggest that he might have some of his *own* experience with racism and that it is hypocritical to turn a blind eye to racism of other people.

[nitro]

FYI. Van created a new blog website to track her campaign:
http://wearingracism.blogspot.com

I has the pictures of the t-shirts and a link to her petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/APA911/petition.html

--
Asian Media Watch
Web: http://www.asianmediawatch.net
News: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asianmediaalerts
E-mail: alerts@asianmediawatch.net

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1348

SPENCER GIFTS: Racist T-shirts for Sale

Jan. 19, 2006 -- A graduate student starts a petition against the sale of offensive Asian-themed T-shirts at novelty store, Spencer Gifts.
By Camille Jackson | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org

In the midst of the post-holiday shopping rush at a local mall, Vanessa Au's friend found more than bargains. He also spotted a rack of offensive "Asian-themed" T-shirts being sold at Spencer Gifts, a trendy novelty store.

He snapped photos of the shirts with his camera phone, and emailed them to Au, a graduate student at San Francisco State University. The shirts featured these offensive and sexually explicit slogans:

"Hang Out With Your Wang Out" reads one shirt featuring a caricature of a "queued, slanted eyed, buck-toothed" Chinese man wearing a rice paddy hat and holding his penis

"I may be fat, but my cock is huge" reads one shirt with an image of Buddha

A rooster is the centerpiece of yet another shirt advertising the "Suk Mai Cock Poultry Farm"
Au was so outraged by the three T-shirts, she wrote a letter to Spencer Gifts executives, vowing a boycott, and posted the letter and the email addresses of the executives on her weblog.
"You obviously learned nothing from the Abercrombie & Fitch debacle," Au wrote, referring to spring 2002 when that chain pulled a similar line of offensive and sexist T-shirts from its stores last fall.

In 2004, petitioners also blasted Burlington Coat Factory for selling offensive T-shirts targeting Asians.

"I am appalled and disgusted," Au added, calling one of the Spencer Gifts shirts a clear "mockery of the Chinese language and sophomoric jab at Asians and their supposed difficulty with English spelling and comprehension."

The shirts, she wrote, are "painfully reminiscent of racist images in popular culture in the early 1900s" and promote the idea "that Asians are exotic foreigners to be insulted and ridiculed without consequence."

Au said the image of the Chinese man wearing a rice paddy hat was particularly "revolting because it screamed late 19th century anti-Chinese propaganda."

To date she has not heard from any of the New Jersey-based Spencer Gifts executives including President and CEO, Steven Silverstein. The company's corporate offices also did not return calls from Tolerance.org.

However, a week after starting the petition, Au found the shirts on Spencer's clearance shelves.

Not funny
After starting the campaign against Spencer Gifts, Au watched a heated discussion develop on one of her blogs.

"Personally, I believe it's more of an insensitivity and ignorance issue rather than actual racism," wrote a visitor with the username gt.

"Don't make things bigger than they are ... just because they aren't that funny (to you) doesn't make them racist," wrote an anonymous visitor.

"I am not the least bit offended by the shirts, I think they're quite funny," wrote Rose, another visitor.

But the Asian community isn't amused. Nor are they surprised by the company's insensitivity given its reputation for gag gifts and distasteful humor.

"I don't think Spencer Gifts is really going to care. This is the kind of crap they sell. It's no surprise to anyone in their corporate offices that these shirts are intended to offend. It's racist, and they know it. They want people to get upset. Hell, they expect it," wrote another popular blogger Angry Asian Man, linking to Au's petition.

Au believes Asians are targeted because, as a group, they are perceived as "docile" and won't speak out like other ethnic groups. But the so-called humor, she says, comes with a price.

"I'm sick of seeing Asians being the butt of all jokes ... The fact is, having images like these floating around in popular culture is absolutely not harmless," Au wrote in an email to Tolerance.org.

"Spencer Gifts needs to realize that those images were originally created to hurt, insult and oppress us and are not to be resurrected in what they think is good humor."

Au would like to see the shirts pulled from all stores, not sold off on the clearance rack. She'd also like executives to offer a sincere public apology along with a promise that they won't sell racially insensitive T-shirts again.

Others agree with her. So far, Au's petition has more than 800 signatures.

"In the future, I would be not be surprised to see these T-shirts being sold by another retailer," said Kai Yu of Asian Media Watch.

"Our responsibility as activists and consumers is to educate each other about companies that attempt to profit on racially offensive imagery, to hold these companies accountable for promoting hate and bigotry; to ensure that we, our family and our friends take our business elsewhere if a satisfactory resolution is not achieved."

Contact us for permission to reprint this article. Please include the name of the article in your request.


>> DO SOMETHING
:: Sign the petition against Spencer Gifts.

:: Visit Vanessa Au's blog, Wearing Racism.


>> DIG DEEPER
Read other Tolerance.org coverage of offensive and racist items:

Abercrombie Pulls Sexist Shirts
Product Watch: Stopping the Sale of Hate
Clothing Designer Misses Point of 'Girl Power'
Urban Outfitters Halts Offensive T-shirt Design




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[Sizwe_X]

If anyone is going to be stopping at the mall in the next few days/weeks, I'd ask that you go into Spencer Gifts to verify whether or not these shirts have been pulled.

Vanessa received an email from Spencer Gifts that asserts that the shirts have allegedly been pulled from the shelves.

Any verification anyone can provide as to whether or not it's been done would be helpful. Please post here or inform Vanessa directly.

Thanks.

-Sizwe_X

[Banana]

We might have a store in the mall near my location but not sure when I can go and see.

[BeTheReds]

Good letter, but Buddha isn't a diety.

[vau604]

Thanks everyone for the support and reposting of my email. Well, we did it. They pulled the shirts and apologized but I need your help making sure they keep their promises. Please go to wearingracism dot blogspot dot com for updates on the campaign.

[Sizwe_X]

We might have a store in the mall near my location but not sure when I can go and see.

If you get a chance, take a look.