During an appearance on ESPN on Thursday, sports journalist Bomani Jones decided to make a statement by wearing this shirt:
Shirt @bomani_jones is wearing on @MikeAndMike this morning pic.twitter.com/9gw69nqrrw
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 7, 2016
The shirt is the Cleveland Indians logo, except it says "Caucasians" instead of "Indians," with a caricature of a white person instead of Indians' mascot Chief Wahoo and a dollar sign instead of the chief's feather.
Many people found the shirt offensive on Twitter, causing Jones's appearance on ESPN to trend. But getting offended is exactly the point: Many white people realize this shirt is unacceptable, yet it seems okay in US society to make a mascot out of Native Americans. After all, it's not just the Cleveland Indians who do this — it's also the Washington Redskins, Florida State Seminoles, and many other teams.
Or as Jones put it in an exchange with a critic of the shirt:
@bomani_jones shirt...What happens if @Espngreeny wore an "African Americans" shirt on the air? @MikeAndMike @espn pic.twitter.com/Vua6fDfWo7
— Justin DePrimo (@justindeprimo) April 7, 2016
or...indians? https://t.co/anat5DWOE3
— El Flaco (@bomani_jones) April 7, 2016
If you want to buy the shirt, try here — although it seems like the website is down.
Hat tip to Chris Yuscavage at Complex.