Fans Slam Clothing Brand Shein for Selling a Swastika Pendant Necklace: ‘Boycott Shein’
Fast fashion clothing brand Shein is being accused of anti-Semitism after they posted a swastika pendant necklace for sale on their website.
“In case you needed another reason to boycott Shein: they are selling f–king SWASTIKA NECKLACES,” one outraged user wrote on Twitter with a screenshot of the disgraced symbol for sale. “This is ACTIVELY THREATENING to the Jewish community. I’ve seen you all posting about other issues but being silent on antisemitism – do NOT let Shein get away with this.”
Another added, “I can’t even believe we STILL have to have this talk. Stop using literal SWASTIKAS PERIOD. It’s not ‘trendy’ genocide isn’t ‘cool.’ @SHEIN_official you are an absolute f–king joke.”
As watchdogs began to spread the word about the website’s product, users claimed that they changed the name of the item from “Metal Swastika Pendant Necklace” to “Metal Pendant.” Fans continued to call out the company, writing messages such as, “Changing the name doesn’t make it less of a swastika.”
@SHEIN_official Let’s talk about the swastika necklace shall we?????????? Seriously, in 2020, we’re still supporting hate symbols and the nazi party????? Go out of fucking business already
— slut 4 lisa simpson (@slut4lisa) July 9, 2020
Shortly after the online backlash, Shein removed the product from their website and later issued an apology.
“For the record, SHEIN was not selling a Nazi swastika pendant, the necklace is a Buddhist swastika which has symbolized spirituality and good fortune for more than a thousand years. The Nazi swastika has a different design; it is pointed clockwise and tilted at an angle. However, because we understand the two symbols can be confused, and one is highly offensive, we have removed the product from our site,” a representative at Shein told In Touch.
“As a multicultural and global brand, we want to apologize profusely to those who are offended, we are sensitive to these issues and want to be very clear that we in no way support or condone racial, cultural and religious prejudice or hostility,” they continued. “We are actively working through our internal structure and processes to resolve these issues, including a product review committee to ensure that we respect our diverse community. We are a global and all-inclusive brand and we are taking extreme measures to ensure that all items are cleared through a rigorous vetting process before we retail them.”
This isn’t the first time Shein has been called out for selling culturally insensitive products. On July 3, the brand was slammed for carrying rugs that resembled Muslim prayer mats. Two days after drawing attention to the item, they removed the product and apologized on Instagram.
“To our community — we made a serious mistake recently by selling prayer mats as decorative rugs on our site. We understand this was a highly offensive oversight and are truly sorry. Since it was brought to our attention, we immediately removed the products from our site and asked our vendor to stop selling to others. We also formed a product review committee with staff from different cultures and religions so a mistake like this doesn’t happen again,” the brand wrote at the time.
“As a global brand, we vow to do a much better job in educating ourselves on different cultures, religions and traditions to ensure our diverse community is respected and honored,” Shein continued. “We offer our sincerest apology to all whom we have hurt and offended and hope we can earn your forgiveness.”
It appears the company has more work to do.
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