Posted on 08/28/2002 10:57:49 AM PDT by RCW2001
Target issues nationwide alert to recall white power clothing
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/08/28/state1330EDT0096.DTL
(08-28) 10:30 PDT DAVIS, Calif. (AP) --
Clothing with white supremacist symbols at nationwide Target stores was recalled after a Davis resident realized the symbols are a code among neo-Nazis for "Heil Hitler" and brought it to store officials' attention.
Target Stores of Minneapolis issued a call Tuesday to all 1,100 stores nationwide to stop selling the clothing printed with "eight eight" and "88," which stands for "Heil Hitler" because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Joseph Rodriguez, a video producer for the University of California, Davis, was shocked when he found the printed symbols on a pair of red shorts at the Elk Grove Target store in June. He had learned the meaning of the white power code from a documentary on racist rock music. The symbols are commonly used among supremacists in graffiti and is a popular tattoo.
Rodriguez bought the shorts and took them to the store manager. But after being told the store just sells what is shipped, he took his complaint to Target's corporate office, where he said he was "blown off."
Then Rodriguez went to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which campaigns against racism, tracks racist organizations and runs an educational Web site, www.tolerance.org.
Target officials said they first learned what the symbols meant on Monday when Rodriguez's complaints were put on the center's Web site.
"Nobody knew what it meant," said Carolyn Brookter, director of corporate communications for Target. "We certainly apologize that this was out there. We would not have any white supremacist symbols out selling as merchandise."
Brookter said along with removing the clothing from the stores, Target will conduct a campaign to teach store buyers and advertisers about such symbols. They will also look into how the offending type came to be used on the merchandise.
©2002 Associated Press
Rodriguez outs himself here as an irredeemable Marxist.
Yep
It's just a foregone conclusion that it's some kind of white supremacist clothing manufacturer?
The problem is that we know where this could be heading. There is a Route 88 just a few miles from where I live, and I can just see the protests a few years from now:
"I can't drive to work without my rights being violated! Every time I even go near that evil road I get jittery! I can't sleep at night! If the state won't rename the road then they're jsut as guilty of genocide as those who gassed the Jews! No justice, no peace!"
I'm probably exaggerating...but only a very little bit.
Ironically, 88 was the number on Michael Irvin's jersey... which made it a symbol for white powder.
Here's your 88 (with Germans included).
Well, this particular 88 was hell-on-wheels ... and German, to boot.
Yup. And Dale Jarret's 88 is a symbol for American Horsepower.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.