Skate Company Upsets Asian-Americans With Racially-Charged T-Shirt

There's a thin line between parody and poor taste. Did they cross it?

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Baker Skateboards is catching flak for a baseball tee featuring skaters Don "The Nuge" Nguyen, who is sponsored by Baker, and Daniel Shimizu, who rides for Nike. The shirt depicts the two as the "Gooks of Hazzard," two "Good Orr Boys" who appear to be on a modded-out import car. 

TMZ reported on the shirt initially, and Baker fired back with a blog post titled "Yoo Soo Funny," thanking them for the free press. An organization known as the Asian American Justice Center says that "outlets that sell this shirt, should be aware that use of the term 'gook' on their apparel is offensive and quite simply amounts to racism for sale. No one should seek to profit from racism." 

Judging from that response, Baker doesn't seem to care much about the heat they're getting. [TMZ]

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