Photo of Man Wearing ‘Caucasians’ T-Shirt Becomes Internet Sensation

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A photo of a man wearing a “Caucasians” T-shirt to mock the NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins has gone viral.

The photo: The tweet shared on Sunday by a user named @infamouschar has already racked up nearly 700,000 likes.

According to the New York Post, @infamouschar lifted the photo from the original user, who has yet to be identified.

  • In July, the organization once known as the Redskins announced it would be renaming the team in response to a years-long campaign from racial justice activists who felt the moniker was offensive to Native Americans.
  • Executives said the team would be known as the Washington Football Team for at least the entire 2020 season, as it worked to settle on a more permanent name.
  • The change occurred despite polling in 2016 and 2004 showing that 9 in 10 Native Americans were not offended by the Redskins name.

The reaction: On Twitter, many commenters celebrated the T-shirt as a supposedly clever way to give privileged whites a taste of their own medicine.

  • Others, meanwhile, quibbled with the use of the word caucasian, arguing it was an imprecise term for white people that only served to reinforce white supremacy.
  • Some white commenters said the “Caucasians” shirt wasn’t offensive to them.
  • “The funniest part is virtually no Caucasians would be offended & millions would probably love to have a team,” tweeted An0maly, a popular Twitter personality.

Deja vu: In 2018, New York Times bestselling author Frederick Joseph, who is black, wore a “Caucasians” shirt as a kind of social experiment while he strolled through Manhattan.

Joseph said he was accosted by several angry white people who found his shirt offensive.

The Washington Post

By We'll Do It Live