Black Man Wears 'Caucasians' T-Shirt To Expose Racism In America

A black man who has been wearing a T-shirt with a "Caucasians" logo in New York to make fun of the Washington Redskins logo says he's stirred up some negative reactions from white people -- and he argues it has revealed the racial bias deeply ingrained in America.

Yahoo reports that 29-year-old Frederick Joseph, who founded the New York-based market agency We Have Stories, tweeted a photo of himself wearing the T-shirt, along with a number of stories of his interactions with people on the street. The Redskins logo is controversial for both the name and its depiction of Native Americans that many feel are racist.

“I wanted to see how people responded to the shirt — while there’s nothing derogatory about the word ‘Caucasian,’ there’s a certain privilege among some white people who haven’t been challenged on certain aspects of racism,” Joseph told Yahoo.

The Hypocrisy of Racist Logos:

Last weekend I decided to wear this shirt, I figured it would catch some by surprise but I didn’t expect people to be as trash as they were. pic.twitter.com/DW5n6QEmOl
— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) July 31, 2018

Joseph tweeted that while walking around with the shirt on, he had many interesting reactions, including an older white woman who told him wearing it was "disrespectful." When asked why the Redskins name and logo weren't disrespectful to Native Americans, Joseph said she responded, "because that's the logo!"

He said many people seemed to make comments to themselves or roll their eyes or have some sort of reaction -- reactions they wouldn't have to someone walking around in a Redskins shirt. And that, he says, indicates that racial bias is alive and well in America. Also, these reactions come despite the fact that neither the term caucasians nor the logo on his shirt were offensive to white people, he said.

"Basically, I was being shamed as a black person for wearing a non-disrespectful shirt with a white person logo on it," Joseph tweeted. "But people wear apparel and jerseys with logos depicting things such as a Native American and call them 'redskins'... whew chile, the hypocrisy and privilege."

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has steadfastly refused to change the name of the team over the years, even attempting to convince actual Native Americans to openly support the team.

“A Redskin is a football player,” Snyder said in a 2014 ESPN interview. “A Redskin is our fans, the Washington Redskin fan base. It represents honor, represents respect, represents pride, hopefully winning.”

(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)