T-Shirts with Offensive Design Angered Immigrants and Hispanic Community

The owner of a Port Arthur store was expressing his apologies for selling a t-shirt with an anti-immigrant design. The t-shirt was seen by many was offensive, especially to the Hispanic community in the country.

The design of the t-shirt had showcase an inquiry of the legal status of immigrants in the country. It shows a drawing of a mother and a father dragging their child along while on the run. Below the drawing included the question, "got papers?"

The Hispanic community in Port Arthur were expressing their disappointment with the store which they thought were supporting their group in the country.

It had become a tradition for many Hispanic families to go shopping on the Gulfway Drive at Ebony Mart.

Kathy Delarosa was one of those with a Hispanic origin that frequently visits the store from 2 to 3 times every week. She shared that a lot of her family and friends know the store. She even said that she had known the store since she was young.

As a 21-year-old mother, Kathy Delarosa is still one of the loyal customers of the store but her visit to the store last Monday had caused her to feel disappointed. She shared that the t-shirt should not be sold in the store because of the significant number of Hispanics visiting it.

Delarosa had considered the t-shirt a slap on the face for the immigrant population of the country.

Armando Ruiz also feels the same way. He describes the incident as something "outrageous." He said that the product should not be sold in the place.

According to Ruiz, like the youth in Port Arthur, he had grown seeing the Ebony Mart with a positive image for immigrants and the Hispanic community in the area. He even describes it as a place where you can you while wearing your school uniform.

He also shared that it was the place where he used to buy his uniforms for school. It had become a Hispanic center for years.

The t-shirt's design had crossed controversial racial and ethnic lines.

According to Henry Jones III, he sees the design of the t-shirt as an offensive one for ethnic groups. He also said that in the South-Eastern part of Texas, stores should be very careful in placing such offensive types of products.

The manager of Ebony Mart had contacted the owner of the business for an interview. The owner denied purchasing the controversial shirt.

She apologized to immigrants and all those who were offended with the design of the shirt that was being sold in the store. The owner shared that she had no idea that the controversial shirts were part of the deliveries for the store's inventory.

According to Ruiz (also running for a City Council Position in Port Arthur), entrepreneurs in the city should be well aware of the diversity in the population of the city. They should be careful about which products they are putting on the shelves of their stores.

The owner of the store had instructed the manager to remove all of the offensive and controversial shirts in the store.