The Ancient Order of Hibernians is taking Amazon to task over offensive St. Patrick’s Day t-shirts
By Irish Echo Staff
Irish Eyes are not smiling at Amazon's "anti-St. Patrick's Day" merchandise, this according to the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
And the Hibernians have launched a petition calling on Amazon to remove the offensive items.
Said the AOH in a release: “The sale of a ‘F*** St. Patrick's Day Shirt,’ described by Amazon as the ‘Perfect anti St Patrick’s Day shirt for those sick of all the wannabe Irish making excuses for getting drunk,’ has drawn the ire of the Irish.
“Currently a petition on the web site of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the largest Irish American Organization in the U.S., has achieved over 2,300 signatures calling for the item to be removed. The petition also notes several other items, some with profanity, marketed by Amazon as St. Patrick's Day merchandise as offensive.’
The Hibernians stated that to avoid spam filters rejecting its release expletives had been obfuscated. On the item in question it was actually spelled out.
AOH National Anti-Defamation Chair Neil Cosgrove said: "We are skeptical that Amazon would permit under its terms of service a similar item to its ‘F*** St. Patrick's Day Shirt’ if it targeted another ethnic group.
“Amazon has previously removed items far less blatantly offensive in response to objections raised by other communities. Amazon often conspicuously virtue signals on its commitment to ‘equal rights, tolerance, and diversity,’ but if these sentiments are to have any meaning, then it must apply equally to all, ‘selective diversity’ is an oxymoron.
“Ironically, we have encountered issues in sharing this petition as Facebook blocked posts because it deemed the language on the Amazon shirt offensive. Apparently the only ones who think ‘F*** St. Patrick's Day’ is not offensive is Amazon.
“The Hibernians call for this and other offensive items targeting Irish Americans to be removed and an apology made to the Irish American community."
The AOH release stated that Amazon was no stranger to controversy regarding merchandise regarded as offensive.
In 2014, Amazon removed products depicting Hindu Gods after a backlash from the Hindu community. In January, 2019, Amazon removed dozens of products featuring Islamic text and passages from the Quran after complaints from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“Amazon has yet to respond to this latest controversy and the ‘F*** St. Patrick's Shirt’ remains on sale,’ said Cosgrove.
The petition can be signed at https://aoh.com/2020/02/28/amazon-petition/
