Obama Ugly Slave Tee: "But It's Not About Race"

In the wake of the flap that followed the New Yorker's intended satirical cover art last week, a shock anti-Obama t-shirt has made news. The shirt raises questions about whether the provocative message it bears is ironic or just plain ugly. The designer makes no bones, however, about his intent.

Apollo Braun is selling the shirt emblazoned with the words "Obama Is My Slave" from his Manhattan boutique. The shirt was designed by Braun.

According to blogsite livesteez, Braun claims the shirt does not reflect his views but those of "ordinary WASPS."

"For a lot of people, when they see Obama, they see a slave. People think America is not ready for a black President," he said.

Braun says he believes Obama is Muslim and that Obama also "reminds [him] of Adolf Hitler." "I can't stand Obama," says Braun, although he adds that none of his dislike for the candidate has anything to do with ethnicity.

Braun and his shirt made news when graduate student Nathanaeli Nassimi bought one of the $69 "slave" shirts and was wearing it as she walked through Union Square last week. Four African-American teenage girls took notice . According to Metro, the girls cursed at Nassimi about the shirt, shoved her, pulled out her earphones and spit in her face.

Nassimi has now decided to sue Braun. Braun's lawyer assures him that he has nothing to worry about, that the First Amendment protects his right to make the shirt and Nassimi's right to wear it.

Braun has designed and sold other anti-Obama shirts. The slogans he has used on those shirts have included "Jews Against Obama" "Obama = Hitler" and "Who Killed Obama?"

Follow Earnest Harris on Twitter: www.twitter.com/earnestharris

Comments

[terramartom]

Capitolistic Moron! rah rah!

[teembee]

Isnt it neat how we beat up on people who wear things with messages we dont like?

[oncesung]

Beating up on people who wear things with messages we don't like is a First Amendment Right. Get used to it.

[NTO08]

HUH?

[Lysistrata30]

Well I just wish the right to beat down racists was a constitutionally protected right and not just an occasional guilty pleasure like donuts or American idol. There is no way in heck this guy meant it as political satire or satire at all. he is just acting out like a petulant child denied candy at the gorcery store. He simply did it for the attention.

[oncesung]

Yeah, but you gotta see the humor in this. Didn't you ever watch Archie Bunker?

[Destin]

Pardon me, but the only thing remotely like "guilty pleasure" having to do with American Idol, is the guilt part. They should be convicted for trash television and banned from the airwaves.

[NTO08]

Beating people down is a crime...no matter who the person is.

[teembee]

I like how the girl who wore it was attacked. That will teach her to wear things that we dont agree with.

[hlhicks]

You can express yourself in any way that you want, but it is naive to think that there is not going to be a reaction to it. If you wear a t-shirt with Obama and a slave reference and you proudly display it to black people (who are descendants of slavery and find no humor in it) be prepared for a reaction.

[OkieIntellectual]

FTA: "The shirt was designed by Braun"
So Ironing some plain black letters on a plain gray tshirt counts as "design"??? In what world?

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Hey now, have a little respect for the guy, I'm sure he worked long & hard to become Night Manager of The T-Shirt Kiosk at the mall. (gigglesnort)

[Leatherhelmet]

Free advertising for this whacko.

[cluesearch]

Don't give this media seeking fool the time or the respect of writing about him. He deserves no press.

[MoeB]

LOL...right. Because how could anyone possibly think of something racial when stating on a T-shirt that a black man is your "slave"...yea, shame on US for thinking that.

Sadly, it is only July and I expect far worse shirts and other things to pop up between now and November. And if he wins, we can probably expect this throughout his presidency.

We just need to make sure we make a mockery out of these people as often as we can.

[MikeDu]

Wat, wait, let me guess. This is supposed to be *another* of those blatantly racist things that the pundit press are again going to chide us to 'just get over it', that it was only meant 'ironically', that we're all too 'thin skinned', that the perpertator is 'really on our side'.

[Chillinout]

"People think America is not ready for a black President"

A very, very small percentage of Americans feel that way.

And at $69, the people who feel that way, you know the "hard working white Americans" cannot afford it.

[frl]

is this a joke? a girl who bought the shirt and wore it is now suing the guy she bought it from because the reaction of other girls was not to her liking? too much. and $69.00? obama like hitler? but viewed as a slave by most "wasps"? hmmm... where do they find these people?

[NTO08]

The same people who will not be voting for Obama...and the many more who will say to pollsters they will, but when they get in the polling station, they will not cast their ballot for him.

[WendellPerrySociety]

Why is this newsworthy - I have never understood why the media even give guys like this the time of day the publicity is what they want - like the idiot in Georgia with the Monkey shirts. And this idiot is speaking "for everyday WASPS" and he is Jewish - maybe someone should tell him he is not a WASP - and just about every time harm has been done to the jew it has been by the "everyday WASPS" whom he claims to speak for and represent.

[bluestatelib]

According to livesteez, this guy is a 25 year old Israeli born designer named, Doron Braunshtein. He doesn't like Obama because "He is a Muslim." The only thing he likes about Obama is that he's black because that "opens up the door for other minorities."

Obviously this guy is seeking attention and he's found it. Ultimately, he may not like the attention he gets, as I doubt that his racist buffoonery will go over well in the heart of one of the most racially and religiously diverse areas in the country.

[macahuna]

"Designer"? I'm sorry, poor typography misaligned on a t-shirt does not in any way make one a designer. This is the poorest form of drivel. Design requires purpose, planning and a modicum of thought. I wouldn't clean my toilet with that shirt.

[Manchurian]

The justice of it all is that, thanks the internet, he will be labeled for life as the disgusting racist he is. This isn't free speech; it's hate speech.

[MagisterLudi]

I gonna post " MahatmObama" T-shirt with Obama in a Ghandi get up-- dumbo-ears, knock-knees and all....Should sell like hotcakes.

[Maanu]

Just as I said about the New Yorker cover, that they should've premiered it at the Apollo and saw what happened, this guy really should travel to a black neighborhood and try to sell these shirts.

As an aside, I love how a black candidate is enabling people to play themselves. True Colors.