To the managers of Abercrombie & Fitch at the College Mall:

                We would like to thank Abercrombie & Fitch at the College Mall for finally removing most of the controversial T-Shirts on the evening of April 19^th, 2002, from the mannequins and display. We thank you for taking part in the effort as a member of the community to lessen the social tension created by controversial merchandise.

                As the representative of the Asian community on campus, I have spoken with one of your store manager, Mr Cox, regarding this matter. I understand that your store has been given directions to deal with the situation, including the removal of 4 of the five controversial t-shirts, and I would like to ask your store to go beyond the minimum requirements and to understand the plight of the victims of stereotypes.

                While I applaud your store for adhering to the corporate directions, I also would like to communicate the sentiment that Asian Pacific Americans have for your product. The line of clothing in question, namely the “Pizza Dojo,” “Wong ‘s brother laundry” “Buddha Bash” “Wok-n-bowl” and “1982 dragon women” t-shirts have been highlighted by the APA community as offensive, degrading, insensitive, and an extremely disheartening portrayal of Asian Pacific American stereotypes. As a product line of an international clothier, they communicate to the world that these stereotypes are acceptable to Abercrombie and Fitch and those who wear them. “Wok-n-bowl” and “Pizza Dojo: Eat-in or Wok-out” resurrect the old stereotype that people with Asian descent have language and comprehension problems, especially together with the rice paddy hats and slanty eyes that are remnants of stereotypical imagery of APA few decades ago. The “1982 women” plays on the old Asian female stereotype, with geisha-like image, subjugated and sexually charged. There is no question that the “Buddha Bash” T-shirt, if substituted with the title of another major religious deity in US, would draw much, much more negative sentiment all over the nation. Lastly, and most outrageously, is the “Wong Brother’s Laundry” that uses the old racist joke “Two Wongs don’t make a White” in a remix fashion. Music can be remixed to gather new audiences, racist jokes should not.

                At Asian Student Union, we, our member associations and their respective members are appalled that this is the message Abercrombie & Fitch is sending to the world and I hope that the College Mall employees of Abercrombie & Fitch feels the same way. By selling these T-Shirts to the campus community of Indiana University, it compromises the strive for diversity and awareness on the Bloomington campus. We urge that your store pull all of the t-shirts out from the shelves, including the “1982” t-shirt, and express your concern about the negative message that your company sends out, since as an employee you are a representative of the company and their message. It is imperative that this is done as soon as possible for protest and other forms of actions are taking place all over the country. We do not want our town to be one of the few that is known to respond slowly to the concerns of the community. We do not want our university to further heighten in social distress.  This is what you, as a member of Bloomington community, can do.

Thank you for your attention and support.

Sincerely,

Christopher Chan
Chairperson 
Asian Student Union - asu@indiana.edu
Indiana University - Bloomington